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LIFE AND TIMES 



OF 



iNDKEW JOHNSON, 



SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 



WRITTEN FROM A NATIONAL STAND-POINT. 
BY A NATIONAL MAN. 



A man's first care should be, to avoid the reproaches of his own Heart ; his next, to 
escape the censures of the "World. If the latter interferes with the former, it should be 
entirely disregarded ; but otherwise, there cannot be a greater satisfaction to an honest 
mind, than to see those approbations which it gives itself, seconded by the applauses of 
the public— Addison. 



NEW YORK: 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

443 & 445 BROADWAY 
1866. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

D. APPLETON & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York. 

- , c 



c*^ 



PREFACE. 



The author of the following pages throws himself on the 
generous forbearance of the reader, so far as any shortcom- 
ings of style, or of systematic arrangement, may be in- 
volved. Having thought much, and feeling very deeply as 
he does, in regard to the present state of the country, the 
author considers it a matter of very great importance that 
President Johnson's position, his relations to the parties en- 
gaged in the late unfortunate struggle, and his views and 
opinions in reference to the proper policy of the Government 
for the future, should be thoroughly understood and appre- 
ciated by the public. The author has waited, to see if some 
more competent pen would not undertake the task. Every 
one must admit that President Johnson's position is one of 
transcendent importance at the present time. From the very 
necessity of the case, the task devolves on him of having to 
readjust the component parts of a great empire shaken by 
the conflict of four years of war, without precedent to guide 
him, and with the public mind yet in a state of effervescence 
and anxiety. It is indispensable to the success of the Gov- 



IV PKEFACE. 

eminent, and the advancement of the public good, that the 
popular judgment should be enabled to decide fairly and 
impartially in regard to him. If his policy is the correct 
one, then it is all-important that public opinion should sus- 
tain him. There never has been, in the history of our Gov- 
ernment, so great a necessity for harmonizing the public 
opinion of the country, as exists at the present time. War 
has had its triumphs, and now is the time for aiding peace in 
achieving its triumphs, also. If, on examination, it should 
appear that Mr. Johnson is the representative man to restore 
harmony, and the mutual dependence of the interests of the 
different sections of the country, then it is the patriotic duty 
of every good man to sustain him. The public mind is con- 
fused, agitated, disturbed, anxious. Every one is more or 
less nervous in regard to the future. All eyes are turned 
toward Mr. Johnson. Every one is solicitous of informa- 
tion concerning him. Confidence in his unselfish patriotism, 
his moderation, his conservatism, his nationality, would do 
more toward quieting all apprehensions as to the future, 
than any thing else. The object of the author is to present 
Mr. Johnson to the public mind just as he is — to convey a 
correct impression as to his character*— and to enable popu- 
lar opinion to judge of his future course by an investigation 
of his conduct in the past. 

Mr. Johnson is a man who, in the history of his political 
life, has evidently acted on a regular system. His course has 
not been one of versatility — of mere expedients. The pub- 
lic appetite is hungry for information in regard to him. In 
endeavoring to impart this information, the author has been 
conscientious in his desire to promote the public good. If it 
is to the interest of the people of this country to support, 



PREFACE. V 

and aid, and strengthen Mr. Johnson, then he who may be 
instrumental in convincing them of this, and of removing 
any erroneous impressions concerning him, will have done 
his country a service. 

The author has been actuated with a desire to do justice 
to Mr. Johnson, as well as serve the public interests in con- 
veying correct information. He admits his high admiration 
of Mr. Johnson's character — an admiration founded on a 
close study and rigid scrutiny of his political life. No mat- 
ter how pure and patriotic his character may be — no matter 
how blameless and upright his administration of public af- 
fairs, yet he cannot expect to escape that censure and fault- 
finding which are the common lot of all men who reach 
such high eminence of position by their own force of charac- 
ter. Old party issues have disappeared, but new ones will 
take their places. They will be made for the occasion, if 
they do not necessarily arise. In a country like ours, where 
thought is untrammelled, and the press is free, parties must 
exist. We may expect to see new issues presented, and new 
combinations formed ; and as reflections, growing out of the 
war and its consequences, have superseded all other ques- 
tions in the public mind, we may reasonably suppose that 
these new issues and combinations will have reference to the 
events of, and the results produced by, the late unhappy 
war. We have already foreshado wings of this ; and since 
the assemblage of Congress in December, 1865, we have al- 
ready seen the elements of opposition assuming regular 
shape and form. His friends are already forewarned ; they 
owe it to Mr. Johnson, to justice, and to truth, that they 
should be forearmed also. 

In order to properly appreciate the author's purpose in 



VI PREFACE. 

this humble effort, the reader must have in view the object 
and design aimed at. It is not to narrate startling adven- 
tures, nor to describe amusing and entertaining incidents in 
human affairs, nor to inculcate any peculiar views of gov- 
ernment or politics. His object is to inform the public in 
regard to the character, morally, intellectually, and politi- 
cally — of the man who now holds the highest executive po- 
sition in the Government. His purpose is to calm and com- 
pose any anxiety or apprehension, in either section, as to the 
difficulties which beset the future, by affording an assurance 
that in Mr. Johnson we have a man for President whose 
whole public life has been uniform and consistent in sustain- 
ing and upholding the great principles of constitutional lib- 
erty, based, as they are, on the bights of the people. His 
further purpose is to warn Mr. Johnson's friends to be on 
their guard against the machinations of faction ; to avoid all 
conflicts, except in self-defence ; but still to be prepared to 
defend him when unjustly assailed, and, in defending him, to 
defend the cause of free government and a restored Union, 
with which his name will be identified to the latest posterity. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 



Practical working of our Free Institutions— Birth of Andrew Johnson— Parents 
—Jacob Johnson— His character and pursuits— Orphanage of Andrew 
Johnson— Apprenticed to a tailor— His studious habits— Goes to Laurens 
Court House, S. C— Moves to Greenville, Tenn.— In business— Marriage 
—Industry— Learning the alphabet— Chosen a Town Commissioner — 
Elected Mayor— Trustee of Rhea Academy— Chosen Member of the Ten- 
nessee Legislature— State of feeling in that body— Candidate for Presiden- 
tial Elector— Elected State Senator— Chosen Representative in Congress. 

Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

First Speech in the House of Representatives— Extract— Remarks on the An- 
nexation of Texas— High considerations of National policy and duty 
urged— The People of Texas— Significant passage of the Speech— Possi- 
ble germ of future National policy in regard to the Colored race— Ques- 
tions before Congress— Notice to Great Britain respecting Oregon — Mr. 
Johnson's position— Extract showing bis views and feelings— Contends 
for the whole of Oregon, ...... 1° 

CHAPTER III. 

His Address to the House on the veto power of the President— The rationale 
of the veto is the protection of the rights of the People— Speech on the 
Admission of California— Extract— Anxiety for the restoration of kind 

feelings between the North and the South Fears of the usurpation of 

power by the General Government— Speech on the proposition to dispos- 
sess Texas by military power of a portion of territory— Rights of States- 
Speech on the payment of Money to Mexico— Watchful jealousy over the 
public Treasury, ....••• 23 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Author of the Homestead Law— Illustration of what may be accomplished by 
determination, perseverance, and tenacity of purpose — Introduces the 
Homestead Bill into Congress in 1845— It would bring Money into the 
Treasury— Speech in 1850— Rejoice the heart of the poor man— Progress 
of the Bill— Mr. Johnson regarded as its father— Speech in 1852— Objec- 
tions examined— Passage of the Bill by the House, . . Page 35 

CHAPTER V. 

Prophetic Remark on the Action of the Tennessee Legislature — Candidate 
for Governor of the State — " Gerrymandering," origin of the word — Dis- 
cussion before the People — His Service as Governor— Elected to the 
United States Senate— His first Speech in the Senate— Views on the In- 
dependence of the Senatorial Character— On the Expenses of the Gov- 
ernment — On Standing Armies — Touching Remarks alluding to his Na- 
tive and his Adopted State ...... 48 

CHAPTER VI. 

Discussion on Resolutions of the Tennessee Legislature — Charge of Prejudice 
against Mr. Johnson unfounded. — Views on the Qualification of Voters 
under the Constitution— Views on Extravagant Appropriations— Predic- 
tions of the result of the Homestead Policy— Efforts for Retrenchment 
measures— Constitutional Objections to the Pacific Railroad Bill— Views 
on Presidential Conventions— Cost of a Pacific Railroad — The true philoso- 
phy of Mr. Johnson's Political Creed ..... 61 

CHAPTER VII. 

The South must contend for its Rights in the Union— The Union must be Main- 
tained at all Hazards — Passage of the Homestead Bill in the Senate — Veto 
of Mr. Buchanan— Speech of Mr. Johnson— Passage of the Bill over the 
Veto— One peculiarity in all his great Speeches — Views on the Smithsonian 
Institution— Key to his Character as a Public Man— Resolutions relative 
to the distribution of Official Patronage — Remarks on the Clerical Force in 
the Public Offices— Corrupt Practices of Members of Congress— Amend- 
ments to Bills moved by Mr. Johnson — Opposition to the Voting of books 
— Efforts to guard the Character of Congress against any grounds for Sus- 
picion ......... 75 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Public Opinion of Congressional Character— The " Gardiner claim "—Indigna- 
tion of Mr. Johnson — Denounces it in the House — The Position he 
assumed— Bearing of his Views at the present time— His watchful Vigi- 



CONTENTS. IX 

lance over the Treasury — Views on the Increase of Salaries — His Position 
on the Tariff Question — The Object to present his Views and settled 
Opinions — His open-hearted Candor and Freedom from Prevarication — 
Sympathy for the People — Effects of the Homestead Act — Opposition to 
the Know-Nothing Movement — Union Character of that Movement. 

Page 88 

CHAPTER IX. 

Schemes of Mischief culminating in 1860 — Democratic Convention at Charles- 
ton — Split of the Democratic Party — Nomination and Election of Mr. 
Lincoln — Course of Mr. Johnson — Appeals to his Southern Brethren — 
Speech on the constitutional relations between the States and the 
General Government — Earnestness of Mr. Johnson's Views and his 
Anxiety to save the Union — Extracts from his Speech. . . 107 



CHAPTER X. 

Second Speech exposing the heresy of Secession — Evils and Disasters foretold 
— The only man from eleven States contending for the Union — Warnings 
to his friends in Tennessee — Acquiesces in the Election of Mr. Lincoln — 
Reasons — Urges Guaranties for Slavery — Supports the Crittenden Com- 
promise — Charges against Mr. Johnson — Proved to be Slanders — Resolu- 
tion offered by him in the Senate on the objects of the "War . . 125 

CHAPTER XI. 

Speech on the Joint Resolution to make valid certain acts of President Lin- 
coln — Philosophy of the Speech — Efforts of Southern Members to get out 
of Congress before a Compromise could be made — Charge that the Free 
States would amend the Constitution when in a Majority, and abolish 
Slavery — How did Congress do? — Fixed Purpose to break up the Govern- 
ment — Real Cause — We must Succeed . . ... 142 



CHAPTER XII. 

Addresses to the People of Kentucky and Ohio — Appointed Military Governor 
of Tennessee — Appeal to the People of that State — Its Spirit — His Strin- 
gent Rule as Military Governor — State of Affairs around him — His Firm- 
ness when Nashville was threatened — Opposes the Evacuation of the City 
— Conferences with President Lincoln on the Reorganization of the State 
Government — His View of the Status of Tennessee — Proclamationffor an 
Election — Letter Accepting the Nomination as Vice-President — Speech on 
the Capture of Richmond — Assassination of President Lincoln — Mr. John- 
son becomes President — His Remarks on taking the Oath of Office — Re- 
ception of the British Minister, ..... 154 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Strangeness of Life — Contemplate Andrew Johnson in Greeneville at Nine- 
teen Years of Age — His Feeling and Impulses — Order of his Genius — His 
Life in 1826 — Ditto in 1865 — His accession to his present Position not the 
mere result of Accident — His Self-reliance — His Progress — His First 
Speech — His Youthful Wife — Her Transfer to the White House — Tests by 
which President Johnson may be Tried — Regard for Truthfulness — His 
Candor and Sincerity — His Industry and Energy — Honesty and Fair 
Dealing in Private Life — Economy, .... Page 169 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Moral and Physical Bravery of President Johnson as Military Governor 
of Tennessee— His Position that Tennessee had never been out of the 
Union — Difficulties of his Position as Governor — His Early Adhesion to 
the Democratic Party — Philosophy of that Party — Charges against Mr. 
Johnson — That of being a Demagogue Examined — Of being a Cold, Heart- 
less Man — Views of those who know Him — His Strong Attachment for the 
great Middle Class — His Plain, Unpretending, Unaffected Manners — His 
great Executive and Administrative Functions — His Clemency — His 
Moderation— His Respect for Northern People, . . . 187 



CHAPTER XV 

Difficulties which beset the President— The Qualities required for his Station 
— Old Party Issues said to be Dead — Issues of Greater Moment — Rationale 
of Mr. Lincoln's Call for Troops— Views of the Ultraists North and South 
— Fortunate thing for the South that Mr. Johnson has taken the Position 
he does — Fortunate for the North that Mr. Johnson Entertains the Views 
he does — Important that Harmony should be Restored between the two 
Sections as soon as Possible — Suffrage for the Blacks mooted — Vote of 
Connecticut, ........ 208 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Course of Mr. Johnson relative to the Ins'titution of Slavery — Brief View 
of the Acts and Doings of the Secessionists — Nullification in South 
Carolina — New System of Political Ethics on the Question of Slavery — 
Origin of Slavery Propagandism on the part of the Ultra Men of the 
South — A Great Error committed by the South — The Pretext for Disunion 
— Commercial Conventions — Remark of Mr. Calhoun — Charleston Con- 
vention of 1860 — Rupture at Baltimore — Views of Mr. Lincoln — State of 
Parties in Congress— Views of the Secessionists — Slavery might have 
been Saved to the South and put beyond the reach of Danger. 222 



CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Mr. Johnson's Position on the Slavery Question — The very Men under whose 
Administration the Institution should disappear— The Truth of History — 
How was the Slavery Agitation kept up at the South?— Circumstances 
attending the Inauguration of the Conflict — Union Men in the South- 
Action of Mr. Buchanan— Effect on the South— Position of Mr. Lincoln — 
What it cost in the South to be a Union Man — Feelings of the Southern 
People, ....... Page 241 

CHAPTEE XVIII. 

Object of President Johnson in the continued Occupation of the South by na- 
tional Troops— Decision of the President that the Acts of States in Seces- 
sion are null and void— His Views— The Appointment of Provisional 
Governors — The Exercise of the Pardoning Power — The Public Law of 
Christendom — His Pardons no mere Capricious Exercise of Power — Dif- 
culties of his Position— The Problem of the Future, . . 258 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Difficulties of President Johnson's Situation— The next Presidency— Requisites 
for a successful Statesman — What constitutes a Demagogue — State Elec- 
tions—President Johnson supported by both Parties— His Nomination for 
the Vice-Presidency — His Views unchanged — Relations to the Republican 
Party — Views on Reconstruction — Disaffection — President Johnson's 
Sense of Duty — Address to the Montana Delegation — Address to Delegates 
of the Virginia Legislature, ..... 276 

CHAPTER.XX. 

President Johnson's Position— If he Falters he is Lost — The Misfortune of the 
South in 1861 — President Johnson badly treated — Approval of his Plan by 
both Parties at the North— The Southern People regarded the Require- 
ments as Final and Conclusive — Veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill — 
Sentiments of the North— Meeting in Washington to sustain the Presi- 
dent, ......... 296 

CHAPTER XXI. 

His Opinion of General Jackson — Great Men the Representatives of some 
cardinal Principle — Washington — Clay — The Rights of the People the 
great Standpoint of President Johnson's Character — His Construction of 
the Constitution — A Moral Lesson in the Study of his Life and Character 
— Influence upon the Youths of the Country — His Manners and Bearing — 
Personal Appearance — Family — His Difficult Task — Attempts of Factions 
to Use him — American, Roman, English, French, and German civilization. 

310 



Xii CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



The Close of the War— An Article in the "London Quarterly Review"— 
Cause for Indignation at the Course of the British Government and Peo- 
ple—It Encouraged the South to Persist— It could have Stopped the 
War— Proposed Mediation of the Emperor of the French— Jealousy and 
Alarm of Great Britain at the Growing Power of the United States — 
Statements of the "Review" Examined— Its Fling at President John- 
son—Wishes and Hopes of the Reviewer . . Page 330 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill— Its Features— The Record of the Presi- 
dent forgotten by those who take Issue with him — To many great Issues 
he has been committed in Principle as a Statesman— Have the Republicans 
the Right to add now to the Conditions on which Mr. Johnson was nom- 
inated ?— Regrets at the Differences produced— All his Sympathies and 
Feelings are with the original Union Men who resisted the Attempts to 
sever the Union— This Strife should not be Perpetuated— Conclusion 

354 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 



CHAPTEE I. 

Practical working of our Free Institutions — Birth of Andrew Johnson — Parents 
— Jacob Johnson — His character and pursuits — Orphanage of Andrew 
Johnson — Apprenticed to a tailor — His studious habits — Goes to Laurens 
Court House, S. C. — Moves to Greenville, Tenn. — In business — Marriage 
— Industry — Learning the alphabet — Chosen a Town Commissioner — 
Elected Mayor— Trustee of Rhea Academy— Chosen Member of the Ten- 
nessee Legislature — State of feeling in that body — Candidate for Presiden- 
tial Elector — Elected State Senator — Chosen Representative in Congress. 

Theee has not been, in our history, a more striking 
exemplification of the spirit and practical working of our 
free institutions, than that presented in the life, character, 
and elevation to the highest position in the Government, 
of Andrew Johnson, now President of the United States. 
The history of this distinguished man's life presents as 
forcible a commentary as could be written, on the peculiar 
structure of our Government and the influence and op- 
eration of constitutional liberty, in the great American 
Republic. 

The great philosophical principle, which underlies the 
whole framework of our Republican system, is, that in the 
possession and enjoyment of rights and privileges — 
whether by birthright or under the law of the land — all 
men are on an equality. The reader must not suppose 
1 



2 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

that this is advocating any doctrine of radical agrarianism. 
It is not meant to be said that the vicious and bad man is 
the equal of the virtuous and good man — that the stupidly 
ignorant man is the equal of the man of high intellectual 
culture — that the rude and unmannerly clown is the equal 
of the civil, polite, and benevolent man. The meaning of 
the author is, that every man, both naturally and under 
the law, is the equal of every other man, under similar 
conditions and circumstances. Our institutions ignore 
every thing like monarchy, and — what is still more objec- 
tionable, in the estimation of the author — of aristocracy also. 
In our country, the road to distinction, to honor, to fame, 
is open and free to all alike. Merit, capacity, usefulness, 
are the only criteria for fitness for the highest honors and 
the most elevated positions. The stand-point of our whole 
free government and liberty is to be found in two simple 
lines, that are indelibly impressed on our memories, from 
the earliest associations of our school-boy days : 

" Honor and fame from no condition rise; 
Act well your part — there all the honor lies." 

Andeew Johnson, the seventeenth President of the 
United States, is a native of North Carolina, and of the 
city of Ealeigh. He was born on the 29th day of Decem- 
ber, 1808, and is consequently in the fifty-eighth year of 
his age. His family, though not persons of wealth or pre- 
tension, were worthy and respectable people. His father, 
Jacob Johnson, lived and died in the city of Ealeigh. In 
regard to Jacob Johnson, the information of the author, 
derived from reliable sources, is, that he was an honest, 
upright, and worthy man. He was a poor man, but a man 
of probity and honor. Information, derived from aged 
persons in Ealeigh, now living, states that he was a 
favorite with the prominent and leading men of Ealeigh 
in his day, and that he possessed their confidence and 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 3 

respect. In an old volume of the " Raleigh Star," in the 
State Library at Raleigh, the number dated January 12, 
1812, has the following obituary notice of Jacob Johnson : 

" Died, in this city, on Saturday last, Jacob Johnson, 
who had, for many years, occupied an humble, but useful 
station in society. He was city constable, sexton, and 
porter of the State Bank. In his last illness he was visited 
by the principal inhabitants of the city, by all of whom 
he was esteemed for his honesty, sobriety, industry, and 
humane, friendly disposition. Among all by whom he 
was known and esteemed, none lament him more (except, 
perhaps, his relatives) than the publisher of this paper, for 
he owes his life, on a particular occasion, to the boldness 
and humanity of Johnson." 

The " Raleigh Standard," of August 28, 1865, in copy- 
ing the above, states as follows : 

" The occasion referred to in the concluding lines of 
the above obituary notice, was this : Thomas Henderson 
was upset in a canoe, and was so near being drowned, that 
life was nearly extinct when he was recovered. Jacob 
Johnson was on the bank, safe and secure. But he saw 
Ms friend drowning before his face. Thoughtless of self, 
he plunged in, at the hazard of his own life. He did 
finally succeed in saving his friend, but both were nearly 
exhausted when they reached the shore. The statement, 
in regard to Jacob Johnson being ' esteemed for his hon- 
esty, sobriety, industry, and humane, friendly disposition,' 
is concurred in by the old inhabitants now living in this 
city. This grateful and generous tribute to his worth and 
goodness of heart is more to be valued and esteemed than 
c storied urn or animated bust.' " 

There was no man of that day who possessed more 
character and influence, or who was more highly esteemed 
and regarded in the community where he lived, than Colonel 



4: LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

William Polk. He had been a revolutionary officer of 
distinction and merit. He was a man of wonderful energy, 
sagacity, and business habits. He was the intimate and 
close friend of General Jackson. By his industry and enter- 
prise he amassed a large fortune, and was charitable to 
the poor and a patron and friend of honest worth. As 
president of the institution, he appointed Jacob Johnson 
porter of the State Bank, entertained for him the kindest 
feelings, and treated him with friendly regard. In a 
communication to the " Raleigh Standard," of September 
8, 1865, it is stated, in reference to this appointment of 
Jacob Johnson as porter in the bank, that " Colonel Polk 
was shrewd, sagacious, energetic, and industrious. No idler, 
no spendthrift, no drunkard, could have won his confi- 
dence, or eluded his vigilance." 

Andrew Johnson, being thus left fatherless, without 
fortune, and without influential friends to aid him, had no 
means of acquiring an education ; and, at ten years of age, 
he was apprenticed to a tailor in Raleigh. He had had no 
schooling whatever. Pie did not know the alphabet even. 
But, at that early age, the prompting of his native genius 
displayed itself in an aspiration for knowledge. His 
youthful mind hungered for instruction. There was, at 
that time, a gentleman living in Raleigh who was in the 
habit of reading to the young workingmen of the town, 
during the hours of relaxation from labor. Through the 
kind invitation of a boyish friend, young Johnson availed 
himself of this opportunity of listening to the speeches 
of the eminent English statesmen, whose immortal pro- 
ductions, in advocacy of the great principles of English 
liberty, no doubt, sank deep into his heart at that period 
of his life ; for, strange as it may seem, it was from a 
volume of that kind, that the gentleman alluded to was in 
the habit of reading. Young Johnson resolved that, in 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 5 

defiance of all obstacles, he would learn to read, and that 
the great store-house of knowledge, contained in books, 
should no longer remain closed to him. The gentleman 
alluded to, seeing the deep interest he manifested in it, 
made him a present of the book ; and from that book he 
learned the alphabet, and also how to spell and to read. He 
devoted his nights, after the labors of the day were over, 
in poring over its pages. From his eager anxiety to learn, 
it may readily be supposed that his proficiency was very 
rapid. There are men now living in the town of Raleigh 
who recollect him well as a youth of strong, physical 
vigor, fond of the exciting sports of hunting and fishing 
in the neighboring forests and streams, during the periods 
of relaxation from labor — of kind and genial social quali- 
ties, and of unquestioned pluck and spirit, whenever he 
felt his rights or self-respect to be infringed upon. 

In 1824, at the age of sixteen, he left Raleigh, and went 
to Laurens Court House, South Carolina, where he con- 
tinued to work as a journeyman tailor for two years, when 
he again returned to Raleigh, in 1826. He remained in 
Raleigh, however, only about five months, when he again 
left, to try his fortunes elsewhere. His main object was to 
look after and provide for his widowed and destitute moth- 
er. Like an affectionate and dutiful son, he resolved to 
share his destiny and fortunes with that mother who had 
loved and nursed him in his infancy. He took his mother 
with him to Greenville, a village in East Tennessee, where 
he obtained employment in his line of business, and where 
he concluded to locate himself. Soon after settling in 
Greenville, he was married to Miss Eliza McCardell, a lady 
of considerable attainments and most estimable character, 
which have not been without their influence on his future 
destiny. Soon after his marriage, with a view to better his 
condition, he left Greenville, and went farther west to Rut- 



6 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

ledge, in Grainger Co., Tenn. But lie remained there 
only a few months, and then returned, resolving to make 
Greenville his permanent home. There he settled himself, 
there he continued to work faithfully and laboriously at 
his trade. He earued his bread for the support of himself 
and his family by the sweat of his brow. His thrift, in 
acquiring a competency, was slow, but sure. For years, 
he thus pursued the quiet and even tenor of his way. Of 
industrious and sober habits, of modest and unobtru- 
sive deportment, fond of domestic qniet, and devoted to his 
wife and children, he looked calmly on the great and stir- 
ring events that were transpiring in the world. 

The author has taken some pains to find out whether 
there was any truth in the rumor, that has long been talk- 
ed about, of his wife having aided him, in early life, in ac- 
quiring an education. The report is founded in truth. 
Mrs. Johnson, being a lady of fine native intellect, and of 
considerable cultivation, devoted herself to the welcome 
and affectionate task of aiding her husband in laying 
the foundations of a course of instruction, which has con- 
tinued to enlarge in scope and efficiency, from the ordina- 
ry rudiments of learning to the highest elements of states- 
manship. What tranquil happiness, what consoling reflec- 
tions, must be hers in witnessing such a harvest of honor, 
of usefulness and fame, from seeds sown in part by her 
own hands ! 

In 1828, at only twenty years of age, Andrew Johnson 
was chosen one of the commissioners of the town of 
Greenville, by the voters of the place. This, though an 
inconsiderable position, yet, under the circumstances, was 
a very high compliment. It afforded the strongest evi- 
dence of the high appreciation in which he was held by 
his fellow-townsmen. It is a very rare thing, even in the 
smallest villages in our country, for a young mechanic, un- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 7 

der lawful age, to be chosen a member of their legisla- 
tive councils. But in two years afterwards, in 1830, he 
was elected Mayor of the town — thus affording the most 
incontestable proof that he had so demeaned himself in his 
place as Commissioner, as to have acquired the confidence 
and respect of his countrymen. Soon after he was ap- 
pointed by the County Court one of the trustees of 
u Khea Academy." When it is taken into consideration 
that only a few years before he did not even know the 
alphabet, it is evident that he must have been regarded as 
a special friend and advocate of education ; as indeed he 
was, and has ever continued to be. Well he might have 
been. Ko man had more keenly felt the need of it — no 
man had sacrificed more devotedly at its altars — no man 
more cordially appreciated its blessings. 

From this time forth Mr. Johnson's advancement in 
public favor and confidence was regular and rapid. He 
had established a character for strong practical common 
sense, of sobriety and industry, and for his jealous interest 
in the welfare of the substantial working-classes. In 1835 
he was elected a member of the House of Representatives 
of the Legislature of Tennessee, from the counties of 
Greene and Washington. At the ensuing session of the 
Tennessee Legislature he acquired the character of a use- 
ful, business, working-man. He then exhibited that same 
trait of rigid economy in public expenditures that has 
marked his course as a public man throughout his political 
life. Mr. Johnson has always opposed extravagance in the 
expenditure of the public money, on high grounds of 
^principle ; that generally extravagant and reckless appro- 
priations entailed heavy burdens on the people, whilst the 
benefits accrued to monopolies and corporations, and that 
a still greater evil consisted in the demoralization, both of 
the representative and constituent bodies, by the frauds, 



8 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

peculations, jobs, and contracts attendant on the appropria- 
tions, collections, and disbursements of these large sums of 
public money. The period of Mr. Johnson's first service 
in the Legislature of Tennessee was at the time when 
there was a far or pervading the whole country in regard 
to a general system of internal improvement by the States. 
It was about this time that such enormous amounts were 
expended, and such heavy debts incurred, by many of the 
States, under the " log-rolling system ; " by which many 
works were constructed that proved to be useless and bur- 
densome, merely for the purpose of obtaining for other 
works the votes of the sections through which they ran. 
Andrew Johnson strongly opposed this log-rolling system 
of extravagance and heavy debts. Hence it was, for the 
time being, he was charged with being the opponent of all 
internal improvements by the States. In this, great injus- 
tice was done him. He was not opposed, but friendly to 
such works of improvement as the public wants and ne- 
cessities required, and as were compatible with the ability 
of the people to sustain the burdens of. So overwhelming 
was the feeling, however, in favor of a grand system of in- 
ternal improvement, at the time, that at the succeeding 
election in 1837 Mr. Johnson was defeated for the Legis- 
lature. If he had been the demagogue his enemies have 
sometimes charged him with being, he would have gone 
with the current of public opinion. But he resisted pub- 
lic sentiment, believing it to be in error. He preferred de- 
feat, sustained by his convictions of duty, in preference 
to success by abandoning them. Time brought about re- 
action in the popular mind. In 1839 Mr. Johnson's con- 
stituents again elected him to the Legislature. 

In 1810, in the memorable contest between General 
Harrison and Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Johnson was selected 
by the Democratic party of Tennessee as a candidate for 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 9 

elector, for the State at large, on the Van Buren ticket. 
He canvassed the State with great assiduity and ability, 
but without success. The State voted for Gen. Harrison. 
His selection for this position shows how much character 
he had made by his service in the Legislature, and the 
very high estimate his party must have put upon his 
powers and talents as a popular orator. To have been 
chosen for this important task, at the age of thirty-two, 
when he had to meet the many able champions of the 
Whig party, in a State remarkable for the number of its 
great popular orators, and in which each party has been in 
the habit of putting forth its ablest men, is the strongest 
proof that can be offered of the rapid progress he had 
made in public opinion and the hold lie had secured on 
public confidence — at a time, too, when his party had as- 
signed to him the leading of a forlorn hope in the advo- 
cacy of Mr. Yan Buren. 

In 1841 Mr. Johnson was elected a State Senator in 
the Legislature of Tennessee, from the district comp osed 
of Greene and Hawkins Counties. After serving one ses- 
sion in that capacity, with his usual industry and atten- 
tion to the practical details of legislative business, in 1843 
he was nominated for the House of Eepresentatives of the 
United States, from the First District, composed of seven 
counties in East Tennessee. His opponent was Col. John 
A. Aiken, a gentleman of high character and ability ; and 
after a spirited canvass, conducted with courtesy and de- 
corum, Mr. Johnson was elected by a handsome majority. 
He took his seat at Washington City in December, 1843. 



CHAPTEE II. 

First Speech in the House of Representatives— Extract— Remarks on the An- 
nexation of Texas — High considerations of National policy and duty- 
urged— The People of Texas— Significant passage of the Speech— Possi- 
ble germ of future National policy in regard to the Colored race — Ques- 
tions before Congress — Notice to Great Britain respecting Oregon — Mr. 
Johnson's position — Extract showing his views and feelings — Contends 
for the whole of Oregon. 

The first occasion on which Mr. Johnson addressed the 
House was in the course of an exciting debate, in which 
the everlasting slavery agitation was the great element. 
Mr. J. then deprecated it, in its unhappy tendency to sever 
the kind feelings between the two sections, and thus to 
threaten the destruction of the Union. Young member 
as he was, he did not hesitate to enter the lists with the 
veteran debater and statesman, J. Quincy Adams. At 
that early day he foresaw and predicted danger to the 
Union, from the constant agitation of the question of 
slavery. In a bold and forcible style he rebuked several 
prominent members of the House, whom he regarded as 
pandering to this agitation. On that occasion he managed 
to get the ear of the House — a fortunate thing for a young 
member in the delivery of his first speech. The author 
has been informed by one who was a member of Congress 
at the time, that on the occasion of Mr. Johnson's deliver- 
ing the speech alluded to, the late Charles J. Ingersoll, 
who was a very observant man, and a severe critic in his 
estimate of human character, and who was also a member 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 11 

at the same time, after listening to Mr. J. for a while, in- 
quired of the said informant, " Who is that man now 
speaking % " On being told it was Mr. Johnson, of Ten- 
nessee, " Well," said Mr. Ingersoll, " he is a man of mind, 
and my word for it, he will make his mark in the world." 
It appears that, during the debate, some reference had 
been made to the direct exertion of Divine power in the 
control of human affairs. Mr. Johnson, in reply, took the 
position that whilst the Almighty in former times had 
manifested His power, by special interposition, in opposi- 
tion to Nature's laws, yet ever since the days of miracles 
had past, He left no one in doubt as to His omnipotent 
authority, who observed the phenomena of Nature in the 
material world. Warming up with the subject, he gave 
utterance to the following outburst of eloquence : 

" I might go on multiplying cases from the sacred volume, in 
aid of those already referred to. We may consult our own ob- 
servation and senses : sometimes we see the power of God dis- 
played in the agitation of the winds, in the heaving and contend- 
ing billows of the mighty deep ; sometimes we hear the mutter- 
ings of His discontent in the threatening peal of thunder ; some- 
times He exhibits the brilliancy and awful grandeur of His coun- 
tenance in the forked lightning's glare ; sometimes He lets loose 
the baleful comet, passing from one extremity of the universe to 
the other, emitting from its fiery tail pestilence and death. This 
idea is more forcibly carried out, in the lines of the poet, that 
these are 

' Signs sent by God, to mark the will of heaven, 
Signs which bid nations weep, and be forgiven.' " 

Let those who may feel inclined to a rigid criticism, 
reflect that the author of the above was not able, eighteen 
years before their delivery, to read and write. Let them 
further reflect, that this was his first speech, only about 



12 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

seven weeks after he had taken his seat. The foregoing 
extract was about the conclusion of a long speech, exhibit- 
ing strong argumentative powers. 

The next question of great national concern on which 
Mr. Johnson addressed the House, was at the succeeding 
session, in January, 1845, on the question of annexing 
Texas to the Union. Parts of this speech are marked by 
great argumentative power, and other parts by the most 
pathetic eloquence. Mr. Johnson urged annexation, not 
on any sectional ground, or with a view to the promotion 
of any sectional interest. He placed it on the high ground 
of an enlarged national policy, addressing itself to the 
patriotic feelings of all sections and interests of the country 
alike. In one respect he presents the argument in a way 
which seems to have been original with himself, viz. : that 
the United States were bound by treaty stipulations with 
France, in the treaty of 1803 (at a time when Louisiana 
comprehended within its limits the Territory of Texas), to 
protect the people therein in the free enjoyment of their 
liberty, property, religion, etc., and to admit them into 
the Union as soon as possible, etc. That the United 
States, in ceding the Texas portion of Louisiana to Spain, 
by the treaty of 1819, could not thereby divest themselves 
of the obligation they had assumed in the treaty with 
France in 1803. After quoting " Yattel's Laws of Na- 
tions," page 166, section 165, he goes on to say : 

"The treaty made in 1803 with France, is the most ancient 
treaty; the treaty made with Spain, sixteen years after, is the 
posterior treaty. The treaty of 1819 is in direct conflict with 
the third article of the treaty of 1803, and, to that extent, is void 
from the beginning — never vesting Spain with the shadow of title 
to the territory and people of Texas. Notwithstanding the 
United States have slept upon, or permitted, her right, which she 
obtained from France in 1803, to he latent from 1819 up to this 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 13 

time, this Government has never been divested of it, according to 
the laws of nations. And it can be resumed or exercised at any- 
time, the people and Government of Texas assenting thereto, with- 
out violating the rights of Mexico or Spain. Admit, for the sake 
of the argument, the fact, that the title set up by Texas, to herself, 
is not clear beyond dispute ; admit, also, the fact of her passing 
voluntarily under the jurisdiction of the United States, thereby 
putting this Government in possession of the whole country. 
Once in possession, this Government is not merely bound to rely 
on the possessory title, but is cast back upon her more ancient 
right, acquired by treaty from France in 1803, which is beyond 
dispute, and good against the world, and places this Government 
in a position that will enable her to do justice to a brave and 
patriotic people, by incorporating them into the Union, and 
thereby redeem its plighted faith. The title to the whole coun- 
try was legally and constitutionally acquired from France in 1803. 
In 1819 it had been surrendered, or ceded, to Spain, contrary to 
the consent of the inhabitants, in disregard of national law, and 
by trampling under foot treaty stipulations, solemnly made and 
entered into. * » * * * * * 

" If the premises be correctly laid, and the conclusions be 
lawfully drawn, the whole question resolves itself into a plain, 
simple proposition of admitting a new State into the Union — a 
power which no one doubts or denies ; and all that remains for 
Congress now to do is, to prescribe the mode and manner of ad- 
mission. I think the great error the committee has fallen into 
in the discussion of this subject is, the confounding of two sepa- 
rate and distinct things ; the one, to acquire territory under the 
treaty-making power; the other, the admission of new States 
into the Union. It has been contended by some, since this dis- 
cussion commenced, that the Government must first acquire the 
territory by treaty, and then, I suppose, keep it in a kind of polit- 
ical probation for a certain length of time, and then admit the 
territory so acquired into the Union as a sovereign State. The 
acquisition of territory under the treaty-making power is wholly 
incidental. There is nowhere to be found in the Constitution the 



14: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

power expressly conferred on the General Government to acquire 
territory. If the admission of new States into the Union be 
made dependent upon the exercise of an incidental power, flowing 
from the treaty -making power to acquire territory, the express 
grant of power becomes the inferior and subordinate to the inci- 
dental power, which is an absurdity in itself. The admission of 
a sovereign State into the Union, is not an acquisition of territory 
in the sense that territory is or can be acquired under the treaty- 
mating power. They are wholly different. When territory is 
acquired by this Government, under the treaty-making power, the 
entire jurisdiction and right inure to this Government ; or, in 
other w T ords, the territory so acquired becomes the property and 
creature of the States composing the Union at the time of such 
acquisition. Not so when a State is admitted into the Union. 
She then comes in as an integral, clothed with all the attributes 
of the other sovereignties, retaining the entire control and dispo- 
sition of her own territory. The admission of Georgia and 
North Carolina into the Union, after the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution by the other States, did not vest the right of terri- 
tory in the Federal Government. For long after their admission 
into the Union as States, they made deeds of cession of their ter- 
ritory to the General Government." 

The foregoing extract from Mr. Johnson's speech on 
Texas annexation, is here given to the reader to enable 
him to see that he urged it npon high considerations of 
national policy and national duty ; and also to present a 
specimen of his close ratiocinative style of argument. 
There are other portions of the same speech that are 
highly eloquent. In speaking of the people of Texas, 
then eagerly waiting for the action of our Government, he 
used the following language : 

"They have gone out from their mother-country as the 
twelve spies in olden times. They have succeeded in exploring 
and possessing themselves of the only remaining portion of 
Canaan, destined by God for His American Israel. Having 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 15 

accomplished the great object of their mission, they now return, 
not as prodigals, whose estates have been wasted in riotous living, 
or with even specimens of the production of their delightful 
country ; but with the country itself, sufficient in itself to make 
an empire ; and tbis country they are willing to lay down at our 
feet. Shall we refuse them admission into our family of States ? 
* * * For myself, I am willing (when I take a glance at 
the historic page, giving an account of their rise and progress ; the 
privations and hardships they have undergone ; the money and 
toil they have expended ; the valor and patriotism they have dis- 
played in the hour of danger ; their magnanimity and forbearance 
in the hour of triumph over a captive foe, whose garments were 
red with their brothers' blood; the battles they have fought and 
fields of carnage through which they have passed ; the brilliant 
and unsurpassed victories they have won, on their grand and glo- 
rious march to freedom and independence), to extend to them the 
right hand of fellowship, and welcome them into our glorious 
sisterhood of States." 

Such language as this could have proceeded from the 
lips only of one who was sincere, and the judgment of 
whose head was sustained by the feelings of his heart. 
There is one passage in the speech quoted from, of signifi- 
cant — may it not be of almost prophetic — import. It is 
this : Speaking of the advantages, both present and pros- 
pective, to be derived from the annexation of Texas, Mr. 
Johnson mentioned : 

"The profitable employment it would give to slave-labor, 
thereby enabling the master to clothe and feed that portion of 
our population, softening and alleviating their condition ; and in 
the end, when it shall please Him who works out all great events 
by general laws, prove to be the gateway out of which the sable 
sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom ; where they 
can become merged in a population congenial with themselves, 
who know and feel no distinction in consequence of the various 
hues of skin or crosses of blood." 



16 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Here is a suggestion, incidentally made, at a time when 
the present state of affairs could not have been dreamed 
of by any one, which may possibly contain the germ of 
our future national policy in regard to the colored race. 
Up to the present time, all is doubt and uncertainty as to 
what time and experience may prove to be our true policy 
in reference to the statu* of the African race. It is a ques- 
tion, however, which from its vast importance will soon 
become the predominant one, in the philosophy of na- 
tional as well as of Southern politics. One thing is cer- 
tain : the idea of colonizing them to themselves, so that 
the problem of their capacity for civilization and social 
elevation may be fairly tested, is growing in favor, and 
gaining proselytes daily. This plan of colonization is 
gaining ground constantly, as involving the best interests 
of both races. The author knows the fact, that many of 
the most sagacious and philanthropic officers of the 
Federal army, including general officers of distinction, 
have become convinced, from their observation and expe- 
rience in the South, that the two races never can prosper- 
ously and happily coexist in the same country, where their 
relative numbers approximate as nearly as they do in the 
Southern States. These men leave the South, decided 
converts to, and advocates of, colonization of the blacks to 
themselves. The most perplexing question is, Where? 
May it not be that Mr. Johnson prefigured the solution of 
this difficulty % If, as he said in the foregoing extract 
from his speech, Almighty Power " works out all great 
events by general laws," may it not be that through the 
gateway of Texas may be the exodus of the African race 
to a land of their own, hereafter to be acquired % May 
not the working out of the Monroe doctrine to its natural 
and logical consequences, involve one of those " general 
laws," from which the " great event " of African coloniza- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 17 

tion is to be eliminated % Thus far, President Johnson has 
not committed himself on this question. The probability 
is, he regards it the part of duty and of wisdom to wait, 
and see what the developments of the future may suggest 
as the most advisable course. When he does speak out 
on that subject, it will not be in the language of equivo- 
cation. 

In the first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress, 
1845-46, the question of giving notice to Great Britain 
of our purpose to terminate the joint occupancy of Oregon 
by the two countries, was the great and exciting subject 
of the session. It was discussed at great length, with great 
ability, eloquence, and deep feeling. It was regarded by 
many of the ablest and most discreet men in both Houses 
as involving in its decision war with England. At that 
time the feeling of hostility to Great Britain was very 
strong. It does not seem to have been a party question ; 
and on reading the debates it seems that neither those who 
advocated a termination of the joint occupancy, nor those 
who opposed it, were actuated by any common motive or 
object. Some who advocated it contended for it as & peace 
measure, whilst others did not hesitate to avow that their 
purpose was war. 

The reader will understand that, up to this time, the 
real title to Oregon, and also the proper limits of the terri- 
tory, were matters of dispute. The United States claimed 
the country, first, under prior discovery and settlement, and 
secondly, under the treaty of cession from Spain, in 1819. 
Great Britain claimed not the exclusive title, but the right 
of " joint occupancy" with Spain, under the "Nootka 
Sound Convention," subject to which right by Great 
Britain the United States purchased from Spain. This 
"joint occupation " consisted in securing to the citizens of 
both countries the right of entering, trading, etc., for the 



18 LIFE OF. ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

space of ten years. Several attempts to settle the ques- 
tion and nature of title having failed, in 1827 the conven- 
tion for joint occupation was indefinitely renewed, a pro- 
vision being inserted that either party might terminate it 
by giving to the other twelve months' notice of the inten- 
tion to do so. At the session of 1845-46, the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs, in the House of Representatives, re- 
ported resolutions for giving notice to Great Britain for 
the termination of the joint occupation by the two coun- 
tries. The question was, whether we should continue the 
joint occupation, which the British Government seemed 
to be willing to — whether we should compromise the 
difficulty by dividing the territory between the two 
powers — or whether the United States should rigidly con- 
tend for the whole, up to the line of 54° 40'. 

Mr. Johnson took the position last mentioned. It was 
a question on which he seems to have felt deeply. He 
urged the propriety of terminating the joint occupation. 
That he insisted on as a peace measure. The value of the 
country was beginning to be appreciated. Settlers, both 
British and American, were pouring into it. Collisions 
were threatening, growing out of rival jurisdictions. Mr. 
Johnson saw and urged the difficulties that must arise 
from two peoples being governed by two rival authorities 
on the same soil — that then was the time to settle the mat- 
ter definitely — that as the settlers on both sides increased, 
and the country came to be regarded as of more import- 
ance, the greater would be the difficulty of an amicable 
settlement. Mr. Johnson contended strenuously for the 
whole of Oregon, up to 54° 40'. He seems not to have 
regarded the British claim south of that line as worth any 
thing ; that her right under the Nootka Convention to 
navigate the waters, and to trade with the inhabitants of 
the territory, did not and could not affect the title of do- 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 19 

main existing in the United States. Some extracts are 
given below from Mr. Johnson's speech, explanatory of 
his position on this question, so important and exciting at 
that time : 

" When discussing a question so important as the one now 
presented to the House and the country, it should he in a spirit 
of calm deliberation ; and we should consider well the conse- 
quences that are to follow from the action that is to be taken by 
this House upon it. I know that since this discussion commenced 
we have heard much of wars and rumors of wars ; and that the 
passions and feelings of the country have been addressed to a very 
great extent. So far as I am concerned, if I know the feelings 
of my own bosom, I am for peace, if peace can be continued on 
honorable terms. But if, in adopting the means which we believe 
best calculated to secure peace, war is to be the result, I am pre- 
pared for the consequences. No member of this House desires 
peace more earnestly than I do. Yes, in the language of high 
authority, I desire the day speedily to come when we shall have 
'peace on earth, and good will among men' throughout the 
world. I wish I could hope that the beginning of that glorious 
era would commence in my day and generation. If I could be- 
lieve there was a reasonable prospect, I should now stand on tip- 
toe, as it were, stretching my ken to its utmost tension, to dis- 
cover the streaks of the dawn of that glorious morning. But, as 
ardently as I desire peace for my country, I must take that view 
of this subject, and that stand upon the question under considera- 
tion, which I believe my position and the rights, the interests, and 
the honor of my country demand. * * * * 

"I am for giving the notice as recommended by the President 
of the United States, as the surest means of preserving peace be- 
tween the two nations which is so much desired by every lover of 
his kind. I believe that Great Britain will treat upon more 
favorable terms after the notice is given to terminate the joint oc- 
cupancy, than she would before. The giving the notice cannot 
be construed by the English Government into a hostile move on 
the part of the United States. The. giving of the notice is ex- 



20 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

pressly provided for in the Convention of 1827. It is one of the 
stipulations agreed upon by the high contracting parties, to be ex- 
ercised bv either at any time, without any just cause of offence 
to the other. I further contend that the giving the twelve months' 
notice will increase the chances of settling this question without 
war ; without the notice, sooner or later war is inevitable. The 
idea of two governments — the laws, institutions, manners, and 
customs of whose peoples are different from each other — exer- 
cising jurisdiction, criminal and civil, at the same time, over the 
same territory, but upon the subjects of the respective govern- 
ments living promiscuously together, would never do in practice, 
however plausible in theory. A policy of this kind would most 
assuredly lead to war ; conflicts would take place between the two 
jurisdictions; jealousy among the people claiming protection 
under different governments, would finally result in outbreaks and 
violence. The certain result of each government continuing to 
protect its own citizens in Oregon, would be war. I shall vote 
for the ' notice ' as a peace measure. I look upon the notice as 
holding out the olive-branch of peace in time to prevent war in 
future. I believe it would be so construed by the Christian 
world. But, if in taking steps to attain so desirable an end as 
peace, war should be the consequence, why the nation must be 
prepared for the worst. Let the notice be given." 

From the foregoing extract it may be seen what are 
Mr. Johnson's views and feelings in regard to peace, as the 
proper policy of nations, as long as it can be preserved 
without compromising national honor. In this the people 
of the country have an earnest of what they may rely on, 
as President Johnson's policy, in case of complications with 
foreign powers. They have an assurance that he will 
anxiously cultivate relations of peace with the nations of 
the earth, whilst at the same time he will scrupulously in- 
sist on maintaining our country's rights and character, even 
at the hazard of war. 

Mr. Johnson contended for the whole of Oregon. He 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 21 

was unwilling to compromise where the title to the whole 
was so clear to his own mind. Mr. Johnson is a genuine 
Anglo-Saxon in his fond desire for the acquisition of land. 
He seems to regard the settling, the cultivating, the im- 
proving and adorning our vast public domain, and the ex- 
tension of republican institutions, civil and religious liber- 
ty, and well-regulated law and order over the Continent, 
to be the great mission of American civilization. Hence 
it is he pertinaciously adheres to every foot of our soil 
which he considers to be ours. The following extract 
from the same speech will show to the reader the di- 
rect and summary method of thought and argument by 
which he arrived at his conclusion that our title to the 
whole territory was clear and valid : 

" I have no doubt but that our title to the whole of Oregon is 
1 clear and unquestionable.' On examining the subject, we find 
that Spain made the first discovery in 1528. That was followed 
up by a discovery in 17 1 5, three years before Great Britain's dis- 
covery ; and this was followed up again by landing at the mouth 
of the Columbia River in 1792, the year of Captain Gray's first 
discovery. Then came the exploration of Lewis and Clarke in 
1806, then the settlement of Astoria in 1810, and in 1819 the 
purchase by this Government of all the title Spain had to this 
Oregon territory (Great Britain stood by, and did not dispute that 
purchase being made) ; and in 1824 the United States transferred 
a portion of this territory to Russia, fixing the line of 54° 40' as 
the boundary between the two Governments. In 1825 Great 
Britain negotiated with Russia for a portion of the same territory ; 
and now, upon the north of that line, she holds absolute possession, 
derived from Russia, which latter power had derived her power 
from the United States, the United States having purchased from 
Spain all her title in 1819. I consider Great Britain as estopped 
from objecting to our title. She holds the territory north of 54° 
40', under the same title that we hold the territory south of it," 



22 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

In the course of the debate, many members had spoken 
of the difficulties and dangers of a war with England. 
They had dwelt on the great power of that country, the 
unprepared condition of the United States to engage in a 
war with her, and the terrible consequences to the Ameri- 
can people likely to ensue. Mr. Johnson, who is known 
to be very sensitive in regard to the honor, power, and glo- 
ry of our country — although a decided advocate for peace, 
in reply to these war arguments, warmed up, and said : 

"A great deal has been said in- this debate about the British 
lion and the American eagle. Let the British lion growl, let him 
assume a menacing attitude, if he is so inclined. He will be 
closely watched in the distance, from Oregon's lofty peak of 
Mount St. Helen's, which lifts its proud and majestic form fifteen 
thousand feet above the ocean-level, by the American eagle, with 
talons more terrible than the glittering spear of Mars ; with an eye 
that does not wince, though coming in contact with the sun's 
brightest rays. If that same British lion shall approach, if he 
shall dare make a hostile foot-print on our shore, then will the 
armor-bearer of Jove descend from his lofty position, and uttering 
a scream of bolder defiance than ever was heard from him before, 
he will strike terror to the heart of the forest-monarch, and force 
him, cowering and roaring, dastardly to retreat, with blood 
dripping from his mane, from a soil he has dared to pollute by his 
impious tread. We will not ' track him around the globe,' in 
the language of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Hunter), but 
we will drive him forever from this continent." 

As the reader knows, this troublesome question of so 
many years' standing, was afterwards settled by a treaty, 
making the 49th parallel of latitude the permanent boun- 
dary between the American and British possessions. 



CHAPTER III. 

His Address to the House on the veto power of the President — The rationale 
of the veto is the protection of the rights of the People — Speech on the 
Admission of California — Extract — Anxiety for the restoration of kind 

feelings between the North and the South Fears of the usurpation of 

power by the General Government — Speech on the proposition to dispos- 
sess Texas by military power of a portion of territory — Eights of States — 
Speech on the payment of Money to Mexico — Watchful jealousy over the 
public Treasury. 

In August, 1848, Mr. Johnson addressed the House on 
the veto power of the President — a subject then very much 
agitated, both in Congress and out of it. It was a ques- 
tion on which, at several times, propositions had been of- 
fered in Congress, looking to an amendment of the Consti- 
tution in that particular. It was discussed at great length 
before the people, particularly in the Presidential canvass 
of 1848. Any one acquainted with Mr. Johnson's political 
life and opinions, might readily suppose what would be 
his position on the question of the veto power. There are 
associations connected with its origin, among the old Ro- 
mans, nearly five centuries before Christ, well calculated 
to enlist his feelings and sympathies in its favor. It was a 
popular institution. The people of Rome, when in a state 
of revolt against what they regarded as intolerable oppres- 
sion on the part of the patrician Senate, extorted from the 
latter a decree allowing them (the people) to elect tribunes 
annually — each one of whom could arrest the passage of a 
decree of the Senate by the use of the word veto (I forbid). 
It was designed as a protection of the rights of the pie- 



24 LIFE OF ANDBEW JOHNSON. 

beian order against oppression by the patricians. In other 
words, it was intended for the protection of the people 
against the aristocracy. 

In his speech on this question, Mr. Johnson traced the 
history of this veto power, from its first origin in Eome, 
down through the English Constitution and that of France, 
in ITS 9, until its incorporation into the Constitution of the 
United States, exhibiting a minute research and investiga- 
tion on his part, which shows that he had studied the sub- 
ject well. In reply to the argument which had been ad- 
vanced — that the monarch of Great Britain dare not now 
exercise the veto power — Mr. J. said : 

" 'Tis true the veto has not been exercised in England since 
1692, one hundred and sixty-six years ago, and from this an argu- 
ment has been drawn to prove that even the King of England is 
afraid to exercise this power, and therefore it is dangerous, and 
should never be exercised in a democracy or a republic. The 
King of England is not immediately responsible to the people for 
the exercise of this power, or responsible to them for the position 
he holds. He ascends the throne in the course of hereditary suc- 
cession, and when the power is exercised by him, in most in- 
stances, it is to resist popular will, instead of carrying it out ; 
heuce the great fear of exercising the veto power in England, lest 
the popular will should become so strong that it might overturn 
the throne. Consequently, the King resorts to the liberal bestow- 
ment of immense patronage at his disposal to defeat those 
measures on their passage which would require the exercise of the 
veto power, as necessary to protect the other prerogatives of the 
crown. 

" I do not look upon the veto power as a ' snag' in the Mis- 
sissippi [referring to a figure of Mr. Schenck, of Ohio, who com- 
pared the veto power to a snag in the Mississippi], to obstruct the 
navigation to our commerce, but as a breakwater — to use a figure — 
placed in the Constitution to arrest the mighty current, heavily set- 
ting in, of Federal power, or to break the dashing waves of encroach- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 25 

ment upon the liberty and interests of the people. The veto, as 
exercised by our Executive, is conservative, and enables the people, 
through their tribunitian officer, the President, to arrest or sus- 
pend, for the time being, unconstitutional, hasty, or improvident 
legislation, until the people — the sovereigns in this country — have 
time and opportunity to consider of its propriety. * * * 
For myself, I will take the instrument, as handed down by Wash- 
ington and his compeers, and if it is tyranny to exercise this 
power, as it has been by every republican President, from Wash- 
inton's inauguration down to the present time, I am willing to 
abide by it, and await the ultimate decision of the people on the 
subject. If the gentleman from Ohio could succeed, with his 
Federal snag-boat, in extracting the people's power, the veto, from 
the Constitution, the harmony of our beautiful, though complex, 
form of government would be lost, the equilibrium would be 
gone, and some two of the Departments would absorb the other. 
The result would be the concentration of all power in one De- 
partment." 

From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that upon 
this, as on all other great questions, Mr. Johnson acted 
upon a high principle of political philosophy. In his 
view, the rationale of the veto is the protection of the 
people's rights. He regards the President as a great na- 
tional tribune, representing the people of the Union in 
their aggregate capacity. He considers that the veto 
power was intrusted to the President in this his represent- 
ative character. Such being his view, it is not probable 
that he is likely to agree to having the veto power impaired 
during his administration. And it may be fairly assumed 
that he will not hesitate to exercise it, whenever he regards 
the rights of the people as assailed by the legislative de- 
partment. 

In 1850, in the Thirty-first Congress, the House of 
Representatives had under consideration the President's 
message transmitting the constitution of California. Con- 
2 



26 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

gress having failed to provide a territorial government for 
California — owing to difficulties growing out of the agita- 
tion of slavery — the people of California, acting nnder the 
protection and encouragement of the military commanders 
stationed there, selected delegates, who met in convention, 
framed a constitution, and forwarded it to the President, 
to be laid before Congress. The people of California were 
driven to this course by the pressure of necessity. The 
country was very rapidly being settled — ail the conserva- 
tive elements of social life were left to take care of them- 
selves without regulation by lawful authority. The ad- 
mission of California as a State, under her new constitu- 
tion, was resisted with great zeal and vehemence. 

The admission of California, with her antislavery con- 
stitution, would, it was urged by some, destroy the equilib- 
rium between the slave and antislave States, making one 
more of the latter than of the former. Mr. Johnson had 
previously introduced a series of resolutions, looking to a 
compromise of the disturbing questions connected with 
slavery. One of his propositions was for the admission of 
California. He hoped that the moral strength of that 
question might carry with it the settlement of other mooted 
points. And, in his speech on the subject, he seems to 
have been looking more to the pacification of the country, 
and the compromise of conflicting opinions between the 
North and the South, than to the isolated question of ad- 
mitting California alone. The following extract from his 
speech on the occasion breathes the most deep and earnest 
anxiety for the restoration of kind feelings between the 
North and the South. They also show the disfavor with 
which he looked on the perpetual agitation of the question 
of slavery, and his fears of the effect of such agitation 
upon the Union : 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 27 

" If Congress keeps up the agitation" (of slavery), il and com- 
mences legislation on this momentous question, the friction will 
be so great, the excitement will become so intense, diffusing itself 
from the centre along the great arteries of the nation, until the 
whole body politic will wax so hot, that this mighty Union will 
melt in twain. Is there one in this House — is there one through- 
out the length and breadth of this broad Confederacy, while stand- 
ing in full view of the grand arch of human liberty, so gracefully 
and beautifully composed of thirty sovereign States — is there, one 
so lost to patriotism, so vile in his nature, so diabolical in spirit, 
as to lay impious hands upon the magnificent structure and topple 
it to the ground, crushing all beneath the only hope and last ex- 
periment of man's capability for self-government ? * * * 
Let me make an appeal to the North and to the South, to the 
East and to the West— to Whigs and to Democrats — to all — to 
come forward and join in one fraternal band, and make one 
solemn resolve that we will stand by the Constitution of the 
country and all its compromises as our only ark of safety — as the 
palladium of our civil and religious liberty ; that we will cling to 
it as the mariner clings to the last plank when night and the tem- 
pest close around him." 

Those who have observed Mr. Johnson's course in 
in Congress, and who have attentively read his speeches, 
cannot reasonably entertain any fears for the rights of the 
States, under his administration. On many occasions his 
published speeches represent him as most earnestly urging 
vigilance on the part of the States, in guarding their rights 
against Federal encroachment. It is a subject on which 
he seems to have felt deeply, and to have entertained the 
strongest convictions. He seems to have had a great fear 
of the usurpation of power by the General Government, 
and on many occasions expressed his apprehension that 
the danger to our system was in the centripetal, rather 
than the centrifugal force. When Mr. Fillmore, in 1850, 
proposed to use military force to dispossess Texas of a por- 



28 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

tion of territory which she had occupied, claiming it to be 
within her boundaries, but which the General Government 
claimed to be in New Mexico, the most intense excitement 
prevailed both in Congress and throughout the country. 
At one time a collision of arms between the United States 
and Texas was thought to be inevitable. In his speech on 
the subject, Mr. Johnson seems to have felt much more 
deeply concerned about the question of the " rights of the 
States," which he regarded as threatened with overthrow 
by Federal power, than about the merits of the controversy 
as to the right to the territory in dispute. In his speech 
he said : 

" To preserve the harmony and unity of all the parts, this 
Government must he kept moving within its proper sphere. I 
want to see no great central power created, like the sun in our 
solar system, with its satellites revolving around the great central 
body. I do not look on this Government as the centre of a system, 
imparting its light, its heat, its motion, to the sovereign States, 
as so many distant satellites. And wherever this Government 
attempts to encroach upon the powers of the State, the duty of 
every man who loves the Union, who is faithful to that Govern- 
ment which was formed by the wisdom of the fathers of the 
Revolution, is to step forward, and enter his protest against such 
encroachment. 

" I have felt it to he my duty to protest against these enor- 
mous and extraordinary doctrines, put forth by the Executive in 
his message recently submitted to the House, upon the Texas 
boundary. These doctrines, if carried out, must result in the 
overshadowing of State rights, and the consolidation of this Gov- 
ernment. It is time the States began to look to the encroach- 
ments that are being made upon their reserved rights, and thereby 
preserve the Constitution as it is, with all its compromises. 

" I consider it to be the imperative duty of all the States to 
enter their protest against so unprecedented and dangerous a 
usurpation of power. When the Executive usurps a power so far 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 29 

beyond the limits assigned to him by the Constitution, it is time 
he should be met and checked in his course by a solemn protest 
from all the States. I am no adv T ocate of disunion. I am for the 
settlement and harmonious adjustment of this difficulty with all 
my heart, but I desire to see the Constitution preserved. I wish 
to see each, branch of the Government moving in its legitimate 
sphere." 

The views of Mr. Johnson, as herein set forth, concern- 
ing the rights of the States, are significant, and at the 
present time they are important as foreshadowing what may 
be his course whenever the constitutional rights of the 
States may be involved. The theory of State rights has 
received a severe shock in the results produced by the con- 
clusion of the war. But because they were perverted into 
an attempt to destroy the Union, they do not therefore 
exist in any less force and power than they did before the 
late conflict of arms. The Constitution is unchanged in 
that provision which " reserves to the States respectively, 
or to the people, the powers not delegated to the United 
States, nor prohibited by it to the States." At this time, 
when great anxiety is felt even by many of the best and 
truest loyal men in the country, lest from the very force 
of circumstances the tendency of our Government may 
be toward consolidation, it is consoling to reflect that the 
chief executive officer of the Government entertains the 
views he does, as set forth in the preceding extracts, of the 
constitutional relations between the General Government 
and the States. .The public mind may rest secure, and 
rely with confidence, that he will scrupulously respect the 
rights of the States, and that he will not encourage any 
violation of the same. His language on the subject, in 
expressing his views, is plain, direct, and unmistakable. 

In January, 1852, a most exciting and interesting dis- 
cussion took place in the House of Representatives on the 



30 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

bill for appropriating $3,180,000, the instalment and in- 
terest dne in May, 1852, under the twelfth article of the 
treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico, 
known as the treaty of Gnadalnpe Hidalgo, made and 
concluded in February, 1848. The debate was marked 
with great ability and with considerable feeling. The 
position was assumed and earnestly enforced by many 
members, that in case of a treaty stipulation for the pay- 
ment of money, Congress was bound to make the appro- 
priation unconditionally, without inquiry into the merits, 
and had no right to go behind the record and regulate the 
details as to the manner of payment. The previous instal- 
ment due Mexico under the treaty had been appropriated 
fourteen months in advance of the day of payment ; the 
contractors for paying over the same in the city of Mexico 
had realized three and a half per cent, on the operation, 
and the payment had been made under the direction of 
the Secretary of State. Public rumor and the public 
press had indulged in many surmises and strictures upon 
the manner of the payment of the previous instalment ; 
that the Government of the United States had lost mate- 
rially by anticipating the appropriation, and thus allowing 
the contractors the use of the money in the mean time ; 
that the Secretary of State (Mr. Webster), under whose 
direction the instalment had been paid, had used his 
official influence in behalf of favorite contractors, and the 
insinuation had been freely indulged in that he had con- 
sulted his own personal interests in the transaction. Mr. 
Johnson, by way of quieting any apprehension on that 
score for the future, whilst disclaiming even the remotest 
idea of countenancing any suspicion of Mr. Webster's in- 
tegrity, introduced an amendment to the bill, providing — 
" That said sum be paid over to the proper authorities of 
Mexico, by the Secretary of the Treasury, under the supervision 
of the President." 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 31 

Mr. Johnson's speech on this question was marked 
with great earnestness and great anility. In it he exhibits 
the same watchful jealousy over the public Treasury, which 
is a peculiar trait in his public life. The money in the 
Treasury h& seems to have ever considered as belonging to 
the people.- The voice of warning has always been heard 
from him when he thought it was in danger of being per- 
verted to the advancement of private interests. His views 
in regard to the binding obligations of treaties (so far as 
the appropriation of money is involved), now that he is 
President, are significant and important. He said : 

"There are reasons, conclusive in my mind, why we shall 
designate in this act the party who is to have the direction of the 
payment of this money. There is a power authorized under the 
Constitution of the United States to make treaties ; and in con- 
formity with this power, in 1848 there was a treaty made with 
the Mexican Government. The twelfth article of that treaty pro- 
vides, that we shall pay to the Mexican authorities, at specified 
times, certain amounts of money. Fifteen millions was the whole 
amount stipulated. A certain portion thereof was to he paid at 
the conclusion of the treaty, and the balance in annual instalments 
at times fixed by the treaty. Now, this is the treaty, and we 
have agreed, so far as the treaty-making power is concerned, to 
pay money at certain times. What has the treaty-making power 
to do with it here ? Is the treaty-making power conclusive and 
binding ? I put this question to the House, and, humble as I am, 
to the country also. Suppose, in the exercise of this treaty- 
making power, great abuses were to grow out of it ; that treaties 
were made and money stipulated to be paid over, which was 
wrong, and which would result in oppression and in heavy taxa- 
tion. So far as the payment of the money is concerned, I ask 
this House and the country — is there no conservative power, is 
there no point at which the abuses of the treaty-making power 
may be resisted ? I know that the Constitution says, that a treaty 
made in pursuance of the Constitution, shall be the supreme law 



32 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

of the land ; and it is conclusive so far as the judiciary is con- 
cerned. But how are the abuses of this power to be resisted ? 
When a treaty provides that money shall be paid, I say that 
money cannot be paid until an appropriation is made by Con- 
gress. For the Constitution says expressly, that no money shall 
be drawn from the Treasury, except in pursuance of an appropria- 
tion made by lay. Hence all treaties providing for the payment 
of money are subjected to the appropriating power. Has not this 
House — the Eepresentatives of the people — the authority and 
power ; and, moreover, would it not be their sworn duty, if they 
believed a treaty was wrong and oppressive, to withhold the ap- 
propriation, and thereby defeat the compliance with, and the con- 
summation of, the abuses of the treaty ? Where is the check, 
where the limit to the abuses of the treaty-making power ? It 
must exist somewhere ; if not, every thing so far as this Govern- 
ment is concerned, can be absorbed and swallowed up by the im- 
proper and dangerous exercise of this treaty-making power. We 
find, in 1820, that the great statesman from Kentucky, in the 
discussion of the Florida treaty, introduced a resolution in which 
this doctrine was boldly proclaimed ; and he went so far as to 
say that the treaty made at that time should be set aside if 
Spain faltered in her course, and refused to do us justice, and 
adopt the means necessary to maintain the treaty. Well, some 
gentlemen may think this is a little foreign, and has no direct 
bearing on this subject. But I will show the application I wish 
to make of it. Here is a treaty made, and money promised to be 
paid under it at certain times, but subject to other provisions of 
the Constitution, and subject to this conservative power. Then 
comes up another question. Here, in the absence of law, in the 
absence of an appropriation by Congress, the Secretary of State 
(I mean before the appropriation is made), before the treaty is con- 
summated, makes a contract with British and American bankers 
to pay over money which has not been appropriated by the laws 
of the country. After the contract is made, after the agreement 
has been entered into, that they are to give a certain per cent, 
before the money is appropriated ; then what is the result pre- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 33 

sented to the House ? It is this : the contract is made, and the 
gentlemen are ready to consummate it — ready to pay over the 
money — and hence you are bound to appropriate it ; and the Sec- 
retary of State, with the great influence he is able to bring to 
bear upon this Hall, says, Pass the bill, let us make the contract 
fourteen months before the instalment is due. Such was the 
case during the last Congress, to enable certain bankers — British 
bankers — to speculate upon this Government and the Mexican 
Government. But pass the law, appropriate the money to enable 
certain bankers to have three millions of dollars out of the Treas- 
ury, to operate upon fourteen months in advance. When we see 
how this thing is, when we see the appliances that are brought to 
bear, when wc see the speculation in every phase of the act, when 
we see some or all parties have to be operated upon, it calls upon 
us to assert our prerogative, and to say to the Secretary of State, 
You shall not act in advance of appropriations by Congress, or 
assume to exercise such a power. You shall not dictate to the 
Kepresentatives of the people as to who shall pay the money, but 
we will specify in our act who shall pay it." 

The above being Mr. Johnson's views in regard to the 
obligations of the Congress of the United States in making 
appropriations to carry ont the stipulations of treaties, 
now that he is President, they are of great importance. 
Upon this, as upon all other questions of great public con- 
cern, he regards the interests of the people and their 
wishes, as reflected through their Kepresentatives, to be 
of paramount consideration. The country may herein 
feel an assurance that Mr. Johnson will not, even in nego- 
tiating treaties, feel himself at liberty to disregard the 
popular feeling. He will never consult his mere arbitrary 
will, esteeming it, as he does, to be the right and the duty 
of the representatives of the people to impose a limit and a 
restraint upon what might be the abuses of the treaty- 
making power. In this he is entirely consistent. His 



34 LIFE OF ANDBEW JOHNSON. 

views on this subject are in accord with the moving 
principle of his whole public life, namely, the rights 
and interests and welfare of the popular many, in con- 
tradistinction to the power and authority of the official 
few. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Author of the Homestead Law — Illustration of what may be accomplished by 
determination, perseverance, and tenacity of purpose — Introduces the 
Homestead Bill into Congress in 1845 — It would bring Money into the 
Treasury— Speech in 1850— Rejoice the heart of the poor man— Progress 
of the Bill — Mr. Johnson regarded as its father — Speech in 1852 — Objec- 
tions examined — Passage of the Bill by the House. 

In July, 1850, Mr. Johnson made a speech on the 
great question with which his name has become, and ever 
will remain, identified, the " Homestead Law." This he 
seems to have regarded as the great purpose it was the 
mission of his political life to accomplish. There never 
has been, in the history of legislation, a more striking in- 
stance of what determination, perseverance, and tenacity 
of purpose — backed, up and sustained by boldness and 
ability — may accomplish, than has been afforded by the 
course of Mr. Johnson on this question. He may be re- 
garded as the author, originator, and father of this great 
feature in our public land system — the Homestead Law. 
He first introduced the measure in 1845. At first, it 
found but few supporters. It was regarded as a rather 
wild and visionary plan, and was denounced as an extrava- 
gant and wasteful project to squander the whole public 
domain, without any remuneration to the Government, and 
without any reason to sustain it. Mr. Johnson's speeches 
on the subject exhibit a degree of research and informa- 
tion, which show that he had studied it deeply, and thor- 
oughly understood it. The earnestness and zeal and deep 



36 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

feeling he manifested in support of the scheme, show that 
his heart was thoroughly enlisted in its support. Although 
foiled again and again, he still persevered. Session after 
session he brought forward his favorite measure for the ten 
long years, from 1843 to 1853, he was in the House of 
Representatives. His last great speech in that House was 
in its advocacy and support. There never was, perhaps, 
in any country, a great source of public wealth so per- 
verted to carry out the projects of political agitators, and 
to foster the purposes of peculation and corruption, as the 
great land domain of the United States. The struggle, in 
every State where the lands lay, among political aspirants, 
was in rival schemes to squander the lands in promoting 
private and sectional and corporation interests. Systems 
of preemption, graduation, cession to the States, and distri- 
bution, entered into the political agitation of the hustings at 
every election, year after year, and kept up the fever of 
party excitement to the highest pitch. The public lands 
were a great corruption-field, indeed. The malpractices 
and peculations of land offices were proverbial. The com- 
binations of speculators rendered the public land sales a 
ridiculous farce. The forcing large quantities of land into 
market, at inauspicious times, merely to influence local 
elections, or to benefit speculating friends, was again and 
again charged upon the public authorities — and with too 
much show of truth, in many instances. The benefits ac- 
crued to the favored few, and not to the people at large. 

Mr. Johnson saw all this, and his determined purpose 
seems to have been to break down the barriers with which 
a complicated land system had hedged in this great inher- 
itance of the people, and to throw wide open the gateway 
through which the teeming millions might pass, to the 
settlement and improvement of this wilderness-empire. 
His speeches on this subject are among the greatest of his 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 37 

life. They constitute the superstructure of his fame, his 
ability, and his usefulness as a legislator and debater. In 
the discussion of the question he seems to disregard and 
ignore the mere incidental and ephemeral relations it may 
bear toward temporary political and partisan complications. 
He raises himself up to the high philosophical contempla- 
tion of its influences upon our national development and 
prosperity, for ages to come. Portions of his speeches, 
where he discusses the measure in its relations to, and 
bearings on, the development and progress of American 
civilization, power, and glory, will compare favorably with 
those master-pieces of philosophical eloquence, by Edmund 
Burke, that have made his name immortal. The following 
extracts from his speeches, though copious, could not well 
be curtailed, and will amply repay the reader for the time 
spent in their perusal. The object of the measure, as ex- 
plained by its title, was — 

" A bill to encourage agriculture, commerce, manufac- 
tures, and all other branches of industry, by granting to 
every man, who is the head of a family, and a citizen of 
the United States, a homestead of one hundred and sixty 
acres of land, out of the public domain, upon condition of 
occupancy and cultivation of the same, for the period 
therein specified." 

July 25, 1850, Mr. Johnson said : 

" I contend that the Government has no authority, neither 
under the Constitution, nor in compliance with the four great 
elementary principles (fire, air, earth, and water) indispensable to 
the existence of man, to withhold the usufruct of the soil from its 
citizens. Man cannot live without the use of the soil, and Gov- 
ernment cannot, in compliance with first principles, withhold the 
essentials of life from the people. The Government, whose legis- 
lation is directed against these first principles, is making war upon 
the great scheme of the Deity himself, and reduces its operations 



38 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

to practical infidelity. * * * Go to any country, 
where the soil has passed into the hands of a few, and where the 
mass of the people have become mere tenants and cultivators of 
the soil for an inflated and heartless landed aristocracy. When 
famine comes on such a land, the first that suffer for bread are those 
whose very hands produce it ; hence we see that the withholding 
the use of the soil from the actual cultivator, is violative of one 
of those principles essential to human existence ; and when the 
violation reaches that point at which it can no longer be borne, 
revolution begins." 

After going on to show how this measure would bring 
money into the Treasury, instead of keeping it out, he pro- 
ceeded as follows : 

" Independently of realizing more to the Government in dol- 
lars and cents, you make the settler a better citizen of the com- 
munity. He becomes the better qualified to discharge the duties 
of a freeman. He comes to the ballot-box and votes without the 
restraint or fear of some landlord. He is, in fact, the representa- 
tive of his own homestead, and is a man in the enlarged and 
proper sense of the term. After the interchange of opinions, and 
the hurry and bustle of the election day is over, he mounts his 
own horse and returns to his own domicil, where all his cares and his 
affections centre. He then goes to his own hay-mow, to his own 
barn, to his own stable, and feeds his own stock. His wife, the 
partner of his bosom, on the other hand, turns out and milks 
their own cows, churns their own butter, and when the rural re- 
past is ready, he and his wife and their children sit down at the 
same table together, to enjoy the sweet product of their own hands, 
with hearts thankful to God for having cast their lots in this 
country, where the land is made free under the protecting and 
fostering care of such a Government. 

"To see every man in the United States domiciled, is an 
object that has long been near to my heart ; and if this bill shall 
not be passed into a law during the present session of Congress, 
I most ardently desire to see this great scheme of philanthropy, 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 39 

as begun, pressed on to its final consummation. Once accom- 
plished, it would create the strongest tie between the citizen and 
the Government. What a great incentive it would afford to the 
citizen to obey every call of duty ! At the first summons of the 
note of war, you would find him leaving his plough in the half- 
finished furrow, taking his only horse and converting him into a 
war-steed ; his scythe and sickle would be thrown aside, and his 
rustic armor buckled on, and, with a heart full of valor and patri- 
otism, he would rush with alacrity to his country's standard. If 
he should fall on the battle-field, how consoling would be his re- 
flection, ' I perish in defending my country's right and a Govern- 
ment that has provided a home for my wife and my children ! ' 

li I confess that my attachments are strong for the people ; I 
believe them to be better and purer than their rulers ; it is their 
interest to do right, and they have no motive to do wrong in gov- 
ernment affairs. I feel bound to the people by the strongest ties 
that can bind man to his kind ; they have made me all that I am, 
let that be much or little ; and by the people I intend to stand as 
long as I have a vote to give or a tongue to speak in vindication 
of their rights, regardless of the taunts and jeers of those who 
forget that they have constituents, and those who feel contempt 
for the masses. I believe that this scheme is connected with, and 
calculated to advance, the very principles of Christianity itself. 
For there is much in man being placed in a condition to do right, 
and with no inducement to do wrong. "While a man is oppressed, 
surrounded with adverse circumstances, and poverty staring him 
in the face, the strong restraints of morality and religion are apt 
to give way, and he condescends to acts and means which, under 
more favored circumstances, he would spurn and lift himself 
above. 

"Pass this bill, or some one containing its principles, and you 
will make many a poor man's heart rejoice. , Pass this bill, and 
the wives and children of the poor and needy will invoke bless- 
ings on your heads. Pass this bill, and millions now unborn will 
look back with wonder and admiration upon the age in which it 
was done. Pass this bill, and you strengthen the basis of Chris- 



40 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

tianity, and enlarge the sphere of true philanthropy. Pass this 
bill, and every member, when he returns to his constituents, can 
announce to them the glad tidings of great joy — that the way is 
made open and the day of deliverance is at hand. Pass this bill, 
and, as regards my humble self, I shall feel that I have filled the 
full object of my mission here, and I can return home to my con- 
stituents in quiet and peace." 

During this, the Thirty-first Congress, no vote was 
reached on the bill, in either House. It was perceptible, 
however, that it was daily gaining strength. At the next 
Congress, the Thirty-second, the question again came for- 
ward in a report from the Committee on Agriculture, and 
underwent a long debate in the House. On all hands, by 
every one, Mr. Johnson was regarded as the father of the 
measure. His name was identified with it. 

April 29, 1852, Mr. Johnson said : 

" The opponents of this measure seem to think that they have 
erected a rampart that is impregnable, and over which none can 
pass. This rampart, thus erected, they try to sustain by three 
main barriers: first, that it is unconstitutional; second, that it 
will diminish the revenue ; third, that it smacks of demagoguism 
and agrarianism. 

" There is a provision in the Constitution on which I wish to 
address myself to the intellect and thinking powers of this House. 
It is this : ' The President, by and with the consent of the Senate, 
can make treaties.' By the exercise of the treaty-making power 
territory can be acquired, and that without the payment of a 
dollar. Suppose that in the acquisition of the territory of Califor- 
nia, we had acquired it without the payment of any thing what- 
ever. What was the object of the acquisition ? It was for settle- 
ment and cultivation. It is one of the highest objects of govern- 
ment, whether democratic or monarchical, in the acquisition of 
territory, to have it peopled. Our territory was acquired for the 
purpose of settlement and cultivation. Now we have the terri- 
tory acquired by the treaty-making power. Then there comes in 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 41 

another provision of the Constitution which bears immediately on 
such acquisition. What is it ? That ' Congress shall have power 
to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations, respect- 
ing the territory, or other property, of the United States.' Is not 
the passage of a law, to induce settlement and cultivation, carry- 
ing out one of the highest objects contemplated by the Constitu- 
tion in regard to the acquisition of territory ? Certainly. Is 
there any encroachment, any infringement, of the Constitution in 
this ? Is it not in strict compliance with the objects of the Con- 
stitution — the settlement and cultivation of the territory '? What, 
then, becomes of this Virginia abstraction ? What becomes of 
the arguments of the men who march through the Constitution, 
who make an opening through which they pass with a hundred 
millions of acres, and yet cannot see the power, in the Constitu- 
tion, to appropriate lands to settlers for cultivation ? " 

[Mr. Johnson here had reference to the votes, at a 
previous session, of those gentlemen who opposed the 
Homestead bill, on the ground of unconstitutionality, who 
had then supported bills for giving nearly one hundred 
millions of acres of public lands in the way of bounties to 
soldiers, gratuities to the new States, etc.] 

Mr. Averitt. — " I will respectfully inquire of my friend from 
Tennessee what he means by 'this Virginia abstraction? ' " 

Mr. Johnson. — " It means any thing or nothing, just as it 
suits the whims and caprices of individuals who wish to talk 
about it. I have shown how we can acquire territory, and if the 
great object of the acquisition of territory is settlement and cul- 
tivation, to give power and potency to the country, is it not 
strange that under that other provision of the Constitution, ' to 
dispose ' of the territory, you cannot dispose of it so as to accom- 
plish and carry out the very object for which you acquired it ? 
We fail to perform a constitutional duty if, after the acquisition 
of territory, we do not adopt the means which induce settlement. 

" What, then, is the proposition ? We have acquired terri- 
tory by the exercise of the treaty-making power. Where does 



42 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

the fee pass ? The fee passed, upon its acquisition, into the Gov- 
ernment, as the trustee ; the equity passed to the people in the 
aggregate ; and this is merely a proposition to distribute, in sev- 
eralty, the fee where the equity already resides. That is what it 
proposes, and gentlemen who can spin distinctions down to a fif- 
teen hundredth, can certainly understand a plain, common-sense 
proposition like this. Oh, say they, but you gave money for it, 
and you must have money back for it. Is money the only con- 
sideration you paid for it ? Where are those gallant sons that 
now sleep in Mexico ? Where are the ten thousand graves con- 
taining the bones of many of your best citizens ? You owe it to 
the gallant dead, who now sleep in your own and in a foreign 
land, who sacrificed their all in the acquisition of the territory, to 
dispose of it in that way best calculated to promote the interest 
and happiness of those left behind. * • * * * 

" Let us now examine the second objection — that the result 
will be a diminution of the revenue. I say it is a revenue meas- 
ure. I say it will increase the receipts into the Treasury. How ? 
By the enhancement of the value of the remainder of your pub- 
lic domain. Let us take a case by way of illustration : Take the 
laborer in society who has no profession, no trade, who has no 
fixed employment, and how much tax does he pay to the support 
of the Government under the present system ? Scarcely any thing. 
But take such a man, transplant him in the West upon one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of its fat virgin soil, and in a few years, when 
he clears a few acres around him, gets a horse and a mule or two, 
and some fat thrifty hogs, which come grunting up to his log- 
cabin through the bushes, and a few milch cows, lowing at the 
barn-yard, with their udders distended with rich milk — at once 
you have increased his ability to do what ? To purchase one 
hundred dollars' worth of foreign imports, or goods of domestic 
manufacture, when previously he could have bought little or 
nothing. I beg your attention while I take a single case to illus- 
trate this principle. You have nine millions of quarter sections 
of land, and you have three millions of qualified voters. Take 
one qualified voter who is the head of a family — say, a family of 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 43 

seven ; you transplant hhn from the position where he is making 
hardly any thing, and consequently buying but little, to a posses- 
sion in the West of one hundred and sixty acres of land. Sup- 
pose you increase his ability, by bringing his labor in contact with 
the productive soil, to buy one dollar more than he bought before 
for each head of his family. That would be seven dollars more 
than he was able to purchase before, or two dollars and ten cents 
revenue to the Government." 

[Here Mr. Johnson evidently based his calculation on 
thirty per cent, as the average duty on the imported 
articles consumed.] 

" Let us take a case more perceptible in its effects, and which 
would be felt in the Treasury of the United States. Suppose you 
take a million of families of seven each, and transfer them to 
positions such as I have described — making seven millions of per- 
sons — one dollar increased ability to purchase per head will make 
seven millions. * * * Thirty per cent, on seven mil- 
lions amounts to two million, one hundred thousand dollars — so 
much gain to the Treasury. How much do you get for your pub- 
lic lands now? A little over two million dollars. By giving 
away — by wasting, as some say — only one-ninth part of the lands, 
you bring into the Treasury an increased revenue of two million, 
one hundred thousand dollars, an amount greater than you now 
receive from the entire sales of your public lands, or will receive 
for the next sixteen years, as we are informed by the Secretary of 
the Treasury. Does not every one see that is only the miniature 
view of the operation of the system ? Is it not plain, that when 
a man is placed in the position supposed, and he begins to thrive, 
when his sons and daughters grow up around him, a school-house 
and meeting-house will be erected in his neighborhood, and the 
first year after he gets under head-way, he will spend more than 
fifty-six dollars in purchasing dresses and other comforts for 
his family? Suppose you average it at fifty -six dollars per 
family of seven, only eight dollars per head. One million 
of families would consume fifty-six million dollars' worth more, 



44 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

thirty per cent, duty on which would amount to sixteen 
million, eight hundred thousand dollars. Does the operation 
stop there ? Not at all. The Secretary of the Treasury tells us, 
that for every six dollars 1 worth of imports consumed in the 
United States, there are ninety-four dollars' worth of home-manu- 
factured articles consumed, embracing furniture, agricultural prod- 
ucts, etc. Suppose we reduce it down to one-half of what the 
Secretary makes it, fifty millions. Then, while you have in- 
creased the ability to consume fifty-six million dollars' worth of 
foreign imports, you have correspondingly increased his ability to 
buy fifty million dollars' worth of home manufactures. If time 
would allow me, I could show how much the Government will 
lose under the present system, and the length of time it will re- 
quire to bring this public domain into cultivation, considering the 
time it has already been in operation. It would be some seven 
hundred years at the present rate of disposition. I could show, 
upon the principle of time operating on value, what a great ad- 
vantage it would be to the Government to give the land away, 
and thereby induce its settlement and cultivation. 

" It ought to be readily seen what immense advantage the 
Government would derive from giving the land to the cultivators, 
instead of keeping it on hand such a great length of time. We 
find by this process, the Government would derive from each 
quarter section, in six hundred years (throwing off the excess of 
nearly one hundred years), seventeen thousand dollars. This, then, 
shows on the one hand what the Government would gain by giving 
the land away. Now let us see what it will lose by retaining the 
land on hand this length of time. Time operates on value, as 
distance does on magnitude. A ball of very large size, when close 
to the eye, is seen in its fullest extent, but when removed to a 
certain distance, dwindles to the human vision, or disappears 
altogether. So with the largest heavenly bodies, removed from 
the eye to the positions they occupy in space, they dwindle to a 
mere point. To the business, practical world, a hundred dollars 
at the present time is worth just a hundred dollars. A hundred 
dollars just twelve months hence is worth just six per cent, less, 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 45 

so on every twelve months, until the expiration of sixteen years 
and eight months, when it has lost an amount equal to the prin- 
cipal. So it will be perceived that in every sixteen years and 
eight months, the Government loses an amount equal to the 
price asked for each quarter section, which is two hundred 
dollars, by keeping it on hand. Sixteen will go into six hundred 
thirty-seven times, which would make seven thousand four hundred 
dollars the Government will lose. 

" As to the third objection urged against this bill — that it is 
demagoguism and agrarianism — I would ask, Is it demagoguism to 
comply with the requirements of the Constitution ? Is it agrarian- 
ism to permit a man to take that which is his own ? Agrarianism 
consists, as I had supposed, in taking that which belongs to one 
man, and giving it to another. Such is not the principle of this 
bill. We have nine million quarter sections of land, and three 
million qualified voters. If we were to make a pro rata distribu- 
tion, there would be three quarter sections for each qualified voter. 
* * * By permitting a man to take part of what 
belongs to him, injustice is done to no one else. There is no 
agrarianism in that. Agrarianism means, as I understand it, that 
property which has been accumulated by the labor, the industry, 
by the sweat of the brow, of you, or me, or any one else, should 
be taken and divided out with those who have not used a corre- 
sponding industry. Agrarianism is the division of property among 
those who did not participate in, or contribute to its accumula- 
tion. This proposition does no such thing. * * * * 
It pulls none down, but elevates all. It takes the poor by the 
hand, and lifts them up, takiug nothing from the rich. 

"Then we have the Constitution, sound morality, and an 
increase of revenue all combined in this bill. There is no con- 
flict, no incongruity, no disagreement in its parts. We see that 
these great and essential principles do not move off in diverging 
or parallel lines, but they all travel in converging lines, concen- 
trating in the accomplishment of a great national good, to carry 
out the purposes of the Constitution and the highest behest that 
man owes to his kind. This is the harmony presented by this 



46 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

great measure, consonant with the Constitution, based on the 
eternal principle of justice and right, and sustained by another 
great principle of charity and religion. Thus we have the three 
great principles on which this measure is based, bound together 
by the silken cords of charity and religion. 

11 Pass this bill, and you inspire the people of your country 
with faith in their Government, and at the same time you inspire 
their bosoms with the hope of doing better hereafter. * * 
I confess that my sympathies are strong for the laboring and toil- 
ing thousands of our country. I know something about the 
privations and hardships that an individual has to undergo in this 
or any other country, where gaunt poverty is staring him in the 
face. I know how to appreciate his sufferings, and consequently 
my sympathies are strong for those who have to toil. I admit it. 
Gentlemen may call it prejudice, or mistaken sympathy, but so 
long as I have a tongue to speak or a vote to give, regardless of 
the menaces, threats, or intimidations of men here or elsewhere, I 
intend to stand up and vindicate the rights and interests of the 
laboring men, for without them we are nothing. 

" As to the objection — that the passage of this bill will take 
away the population from the old States — where is the man who 
has a heart that beats for love to his kind, and patriotism for his 
country, that could say to the poor laboring man of the old 
States, Do not go away ; stay here in your poverty ; do not go and 
settle on the new and fertile lands of the West, but remain where 
you are ; linger, wither, and die in want, where the only inheritance 
you can leave to your children is your poverty. I care not where 
a man lives — whether in my district, or another district, whether 
in my State or another — if he can do better elsewhere, I say 
go, better your condition, make yourself a better citizen, and pro- 
mote the welfare of your kind. I care not where he goes, so he 
confines himself to the great area of freedom, where he can look 
up to, and receive protection from your brilliant stars and broad 
stripes. Wherever he places himself, he is still my brother and 
still an American citizen." 

After a very long and able, and exciting discussion, on 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 47 

May 12, 1852, the House of Eepresentatives came to a 
vote on this great measure ; and the bill passed by the 
large majority of 107 to 56. Although the friends of the 
measure in the Senate made an effort to get a vote on it 
in that body, yet they failed in getting action on it. At 
the succeeding short session, beginning in December, 
1852, there was such a press of business before Congress, 
that the bill was not considered in either house. With the 
expiration of this, the Thirty-second Congress, Mr. John- 
son's ten years' services in the House of Eepresentatives 
terminated. It is true he did not have the pleasure of 
seeing his favorite measure become the law of the land ; 
but he had the proud consolation of seeing it pass the 
House of which he was a member, by a large majority. 
Further reference to Mr. Johnson's efforts in its behalf 
will be postponed till his senatorial career is explained and 
commented on. 



CHAPTEE V. 

Prophetic Remark on the Action of the Tennessee Legislature — Candidate 
for Governor of the State — " Gerrymandering," origin of the word — Dis- 
cussion before the People — His Service as Governor — Elected to the 
United States Senate— His first Speech in the Senate— Views on the In- 
dependence of the Senatorial Character — On the Expenses of the Gov- 
ernment — On Standing Armies — Touching Remarks alluding to his Na- 
tive and his Adopted State. 

The Legislature of Tennessee was charged with having 
gerrymandered the State in the arrangement of the Con- 
gressional districts, with a view of getting out of Congress 
certain members who were obnoxious to the majority then 
in power, Mr. Johnson among others. In alluding to it 
in his speech in Congress, he said : 

" As motives may he impugned, so far as I am concerned, I 
look from them to no future political advancement. My humble 
political career will close with the present Congress. The decree 
has gone forth, and been registered, not by my constituents, but 
by those who think they occupy a higher place. Then, I have 
no political future to which I can look, as my district has been 
arranged to subserve certain purposes ; and that, too, without re- 
spect either to Whigs or Democrats. I must be permitted to say here, 
in this connection, that I believe it was the intention not only to 
destroy me, but to destroy my colleague who lives in the ad- 
joining district, who differs with me in politics generally, but who 
agrees with me on this great question. Our places were wanted ; 
our political garments have been divided; and, hereafter, they 
will cast lots upon our vesture — but there is much in the future." 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 49 

"What a prophetic remark ! " There is much in the fu- 
ture." And how rapidly were the events with which that 
future was pregnant, about to crowd each other on the 
great theatre of American history, astounding the world 
with their magnitude, and shaking to its centre the fabric 
of American power and glory ! 

Having lost his chances of a further election to the 
Congress of the United States, owing to the rearrange- 
ment of the Congressional districts, Mr. Johnson was 
brought out by the Democratic party of Tennessee as a 
candidate for Governor of the State. The Whig candidate 
was Gustavus A. Henry, an able lawyer, and one of the 
most eloquent men of the South. He had been a promi- 
nent and influential member of the preceding Legislature, 
and had taken a leading part in the rearrangement of the 
districts. An arrangement of the Congressional districts, 
with a view to political results, had long gone by the name 
of " Gerrymandering," ever since the days of Elbridge 
Gerry, of Massachusetts, who, in the early days of the 
Republic, had been charged with altering or " Gerryman- 
dering " the districts in his State, for the purpose of get- 
ting rid of certain members of Congress who were objec- 
tionable to him. Mr. Johnson charged Mr. Henry 
throughout the State with having jEfe/wy-mandered him 
out of Congress. That, and the question of Mr. Johnson's 
great favorite measure, the Homestead bill, and a propo- 
sition which Mr. Johnson had offered in the Legislature 
of Tennessee in 1842, for basing the representation on 
white population, were the leading issues in the election. 
After a laborious and exciting canvass, Mr. Johnson was 
elected by a handsome majority. In 1855 the "Whigs and 
Americans, or Know-Nothings, of Tennessee, brought out 
as a candidate for Governor, against Mr. Johnson, Hon. 
Meredith P. Gentry. Mr. Gentry had acquired a national 
3 



50 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

reputation in Congress, was a man of great eloquence, 
with a clear, musical voice, of fine personal appearance, 
and of engaging manners and bearing. With Colonel 
Gentry the Whigs and Americans felt confident of success. 
The election excited considerable interest in other States. 
Governor Johnson was looked on as a rising politician of 
great promise, who was likely to give to his political oppo- 
nents considerable trouble. It was confidently predicted by 
his enemies, that his political race was run ; that in a con- 
flict with his able and eloquent opponent, his fall was cer- 
tain. Political excitement and anxiety never ran higher 
in the State. The friends of Governor Johnson were not 
without their misgivings as to the result, so high was 
Colonel Gentry's reputation for talents, eloquence, private 
worth, and personal popularity. Still they had full confi- 
dence in their champion. The main issues discussed were 
the principles and doctrines of " Americanism," and the 
merits of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. 

The author has received the following account of a 
discussion that took place between Governor Johnson and 

Colonel Gentry, at , soon after the canvass opened. 

The narrator having been a warm supporter of Colonel 
Gentry, his statement cannot be considered as tinged with 
any bias or prejudice. Notice had been for some time 
given of the meeting, and at an early hour people began 
to pour in from every direction. The weather was fine, 
and, owing to the immense crowd, the speaking was in the 
open air, from a rostrum erected for the occasion in a large 
grove. The friends of the respective candidates were seen 
collected in groups, with anxious countenances, and in ex- 
cited tones discussing the relative merits of their favorites, 
and the probable result of the contest. It was evident, 
however, that the Whigs and Americans were the more 
jubilant. At twelve o'clock the speaking commenced, 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 51 

Colonel Gentry making the opening speech. " His speech," 
said the narrator, " was one of great power and surpassing 
eloquence. We thought we had Johnson, at last," said he. 
" Gentry's friends shouted and hurrahed. Johnson's friends 
felt it, and looked anxiously. Johnson himself sat quietly 
listening to Gentry, now and then taking notes of what 
he said. Gentry finally concluded, in a burst of eloquence. 
Johnson rose, and after calmly looking over the audience 
of two thousand persons, he commenced his reply. Eot 
possessing the advantage of a fine musical voice to the ex- 
tent of Colonel Gentry's, and being somewhat slow and 
hesitating in manner (till warmed up by excitement), 
Gentry's friends showed additional signs of triumph, and 
Johnson's friends looked a little worried. Johnson saw it, 
and it seemed to act upon him like inspiration. Elevating 
his voice, and raising himself, as it seemed to me, several 
inches in height, he hurled back Gentry's charges against 
him with a power and indignation I never saw equalled. 
He would not stand on the defensive. He disposed of the 
objections to him in a few sentences, and then assailed 
Gentry in turn. And although a warm friend of Gentry, 
yet I must confess I never witnessed a more perfect tri- 
umph than Johnson obtained over him. Johnson's friends 
gathered around him from all parts of the grove. It was 
now their time to shout, and shout they did. Johnson 
was perfectly armed at all points on the political affairs 
of the country, even in the most minute particulars. I 
then saw Gentry was doomed to defeat." This account, let 
it be recollected, was from a political and personal friend 
of Colonel Gentry. As he predicted, it so turned out. 
Governor Johnson was elected. Gentry was awkwardly 
situated in that contest. Hon. John Bell, the great favor- 
ite and leader of the Whig and American party in Ten- 
nessee, and their candidate in expectancy for the Presi- 



52 LIFE OF ANDBEW JOHNSON. 

dency, had voted against the Kansas -Nebraska bill, whilst 
the members of the same party in the House of Kepresent- 
atives had voted for it. If Colonel Gentry defended Mr. 
Bell's vote, he thus threw himself in opposition to the 
former ; if he sustained them, he was thrown in opposition 
to Mr. Bell. He tried to evade the dilemma by ignoring 
the question. But his competitor saw this weak point in 
his line, and, like a shrewd and able general, he there 
made his most furious assault, and carried every thing 
before him. 

During the four years Mr. Johnson served as civil 
Governor of Tennessee, from 1853 to 1857, the political 
questions which were agitated in that State, relating as 
they did to matters of domestic local concern, have no 
great interest for the general reader. He was the ardent 
friend and advocate of education in the State. No one 
could appreciate the blessings of education more than he. 
No one had experienced the difficulties arising from a 
want of education, in early life, more than he. He deeply 
sympathized with the poor children of the State, who had 
not the means of acquiring an education, and was anxious 
to see its blessings extended to all. He was in favor of 
reforming and improving the banking system of the State 
— of holding the banks to a strict adherence to the terms 
of their charters, and a rigid accountability for a departure 
from the same. He required them to conform to what the 
policy of the law intended — that they should be so con- 
ducted as to promote the interest and convenience of the 
public at large, and not to advance the fortunes of monop- 
olists and speculators. He was ready to favor and cooper- 
ate in such works of internal improvement, in the State, 
as were of general practical utility, but never would agree 
to impose burdens on the people for the purpose of aiding 
works for the benefit of private interests or of local 
concern. 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 53 

Mr. Johnson was elected to the Senate of the United 
States, by the Tennessee Legislature at its session of 1856, 
and took his seat in the Senate at the extra session of 
March 4, 1857, with the commencement of Mr. Buchanan's 
administration. His debut in the Senate was on the 18th 
of February, 1858, in which he suddenly took rank among 
the first debaters in that body. His speeches on that, and 
on the succeeding day, were marked with the same bold- 
ness, composure, and self-possession which he had exhibited 
in the House of Kepresentatives. In was on a bill, re- 
ported from the military committee, to add to the force of 
the regular army, with a view to meet the exigencies of 
the service in the proposed expedition to Utah, to reduce 
the Mormons to submission. Mr. Johnson offered an 
amendment, proposing to raise, not exceeding four thou- 
sand volunteers, to serve during the pending difficulties 
with the Mormons ; to be accepted by the President, in 
companies, battalions, or regiments, and that they should 
be authorized to elect their own officers, to be commissioned 
by the President. This speech, one of Mr. Johnson's 
ablest efforts, is of importance now, as containing his 
views on the policy of large standing armies, and also in 
reference to the great importance of retrenchment and 
economy in the expenditures of the Government. 

The suggestion had been made, in the discussion, that 
the bill was an Administration measure. Mr. Johnson 
boldly expressed his views of the independence of the 
Senatorial character, in these words : 

" I do not wish to be understood as being very squeamish and 
particular in the support of every measure that may come before 
the Senate as an Administration measure. If I support any 
measures that come before this body, I do so because I believe 
them to be right in principle and right in policy. I shall not 
support them on the mere dictum or recommendation of the Ex- 



54: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

ecutive, without regard to their being right in themselves and cor- 
rect in principle." 

In opposing the original bill, as reported, Mr. Johnson 
argued against the additional expenditure it would entail 
on the Government by a permanent increase of the regular 
army, at a time when, he insisted, the expenses of the Gov- 
ernment should be curtailed. He said: 

"Let us go into the unnecessary and extraordinary expendi- 
tures of this Government, and reduce them down to what is rea- 
sonable and right. Is there no place at which we can begin this 
work ? When we talk about retrenching on this bill, it is said, 
1 This is not the place — this is not the bill.' Then, if war happens 
to exist, and we talk about retrenching the expenditures, the 
answer is, ' Oh, you cannot do it now ; the public mind is occu- 
pied about something else ; the country is engaged in carrying on 
the war.' When will the time come ? When are the foul, reek- 
ing corruptions of the Government to be arrested ? What do 
these corruptions grow out of? They grow out of the unnecessary 
and improper expenditures of the Government. 

" I know it is against the taste, the refined and peculiar no- 
tions of some men who get into high places, to talk about cur- 
tailing or reducing the expenditures of the Government. With 
them it is all cant ; it is all ' for buncombe ;' that it amounts to 
nothing. Some may talk about it in that light, and some may act 
on that principle, if it is a principle, but I intend to act in good 
faith, if I know myself. It may be said of me that I am a pence- 
calculating politician, and consequently not to be regarded as a 
statesman expanded in his views and liberal in his feelings. Ed- 
mund Burke, the distinguished British statesman, said : ' The 
revenue of the State is the State in effect ; all depends upon it, 
whether for support or reformation.' Mr. Burke was one of your 
pence-calculating politicians. He was one of those demagogues 
who talk about the interests and the rights of the people. Lord 
Bacon has said : ' Above all things, good policy is to be used, that 
the treasure and moneys in a State be not gathered into a few 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 55 

hands ; money is like much, of no good, unless it is spread.' The 
meaning of which is, that the industrious and producing classes 
should be entitled to spend their money in their own way, and 
that the appropriations by the Government should be in such way 
as will best promote their interests, prosperity, and happiness. 
But we have reversed the proposition. We go on gathering 
muck from, instead of for, the barn-yards of the nation ; we go 
on gathering revenue from the industry of the whole people, and 
we collect it here and squander it in appropriations wholly unne- 
cessary, as I believe, so far as the interests and happiness of the 
people are concerned. 

" Go to the governments that have risen and fallen before us, 
and what has been the cause of their decline and downfall ? It is 
the influence of armies and navies, standing armies and navies, sus- 
tained by money drawn from the people ; these are the two great 
arteries through which the nations that have gone before us have 
been bled to death. They are the two arteries through which the 
people of this country are now bleeding most freely. Shall we 
not profit by the experience of the past — shall we not stop and 
consider ? 

" Our Federal and State Constitutions were made by our 
fathers, who had studied the oppressions of the old world ; who 
had witnessed the encroachments and dangers of standing armies 
in those governments. Hence we find in all our bills of rights — 
if not in all, certainly in most of them — that standing armies are 
dano-erous and should not be allowed ; and we see that the Con- 
stitution of the United States relies upon, and provides for, calling 
forth the militia to suppress rebellion or insurrection against the 
Government. This contemplates, most clearly, that the great 
military power of this Government is to reside in its citizen- 
soldiery. I am for confiding in, and relying upon, the volunteers 
of the country, who go, when war comes, and who come, when 
war goes ; who are not willing to enter the army for a livelihood, 
and thus rely upon the army for a support. 

" What is the material of which standing armies are composed 
in European countries? There you find a broken-down and 



56 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

brainless-headed aristocracy, members of decaying families, that 
have no energy by which they can elevate themselves, relying on 
ancestral honors and their connection with the Government. On 
the other hand, yon find a rabble, in the proper acceptation of 
the term — a miserable lazzaroni, lingering and wallowing abont 
their cities, who have no employment. They are ready, at any 
time, to enter the army for a few shillings to bny their grog and 
slight clothing to hide their nndity. Such is the material of 
which their armies are composed — the rabble composing the rank 
and file, on the one hand, and a broken-down and decaying aris- 
tocracy composing the officers, on the other. Where does the 
middle man stand ? "What is the position of the industrious bee 
that makes the honey — from whose labor all is drawn ? He is 
placed between the upper and the nether mill-stone, and is ground 
to death by the office-hunter above him and the miserable rabble- 
soldiery below him. We want nothing like this, here in our 
country. Let us carry out those great principles of govei'Dment 
and philanthropy which are calculated to elevate the masses, and 
dispense with all useless offices. 

" A standing army is an incubus, a fungus, on the body politic. 
When you call for volunteers, the lowest man in the company does 
not start out with the feelings or subdued spirit of a common 
soldier ; but each man that goes, goes as a hero. He goes w r ith 
the expectation of distinguishing himself, even as a private, before 
he returns to his home. * * * Those men who 

enter the service as volunteers, are cheered on to the discharge of 
their duty by knowing that they have mothers and sisters and 
fathers and brothers to care about them. And then, again, they 
have somebody to care for, too. They have, moreover, their 
country, that they love and are willing to defend, and in whose 
cause they are willing to perish. We do not want your i cheap ' 
men, who have none to care for or shed a tear over them when 
they fall. I do not wish to see a standing army composed of a 
rabble who have no country, no friends, no relatives, but who are 
mere machines to obey the orders of their commanders, whatever 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 57 

they may be f I want it composed of men who feel that they 
have a country that is worth defending. 

" If I had time to set forth the many gallant achievements of 
the brave volunteers in the wars we have had, and to describe 
them, in regular order, before the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Iverson), I think he would be almost horror-stricken with regret 
at what he said to-day in reference to the volunteer service of the 
country. In the war of 1812 where was there a battle-field in 
which volunteer prowess and ability were not displayed, and vol- 
unteer blood poured out like water % Go from Maine to Louisi- 
ana — go from the Atlantic coast to the golden shores of California 
— and where can you find a battle-field on which our volunteer 
citizen-soldiers have not afforded the highest evidence of love and 
devotion to their country ? Are these men, who are ever ready 
to rally to your country's standard in all her perilous conflicts, and 
whose efforts have been so often crowned with victory, to be re- 
garded as occupying an inferior position to the regular soldiery 
composed of this lower, ' cheaper material,' of which many seem 
to wish to have our army composed ? " 

These views of President Johnson, in regard to large 
standing armies, are important, and worthy of considera- 
tion at the present time. Many of our most reflecting 
men feel anxious about the future policy of the Govern- 
ment, concerning a large standing army, and the heavy 
expense to be incurred by it. Many entertain serious 
fears on the subject. That a large standing army, in time 
of peace, is opposed to the genius and theory of our Gov- 
ernment, is a cardinal maxim that has been recognized as 
true from the beginning* of our national existence. A 
large army necessarily involves a heavy expense, and a 
heavy expense involves heavy taxation. From Mr. John- 
son's well-known consistency in the maintenance of his 
political opinions, we may suppose he entertains the same 
views which he did when this speech was delivered in 
1858. The public mind may rest secure in the hope that, 



58 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

so far as Ms influence and wishes may go, he will, at the 
earliest practicable moment, reduce the army to the lowest 
possible point compatible with the public safety. His 
policy, in harmonizing our domestic troubles, is operating 
so successfully that we may hope there will be no neces- 
sity for a large army in preserving order at home. And 
if, contrary to all expectation, there should be any serious 
outbreak, volunteers may be relied on as they were during 
the war. Mr. Johnson has cause to feel gratified on wit- 
nessing the fulfilment of his predictions in regard to " vol- 
unteers," in the prosecution of the war. Who would 
have supposed that half a million of volunteers would have 
sprung forward, with the alacrity that they did, for the 
purpose of sustaining the Union ? Andrew Johnson, in 
predicting that they would do it, has only proven that he 
knew well the temper and character of our people. The 
surviving volunteers of our several wars — whether of the 
war of 1812, the Mexican war, our many Indian wars, or 
the late civil war — cannot and will not forget, or fail to 
appreciate, Mr. Johnson's complimentary and eloquent 
allusions to them, or the graphic picture he drew of their 
services and sacrifices in their country's behalf. They will 
not forget their friend who indignantly repelled the idea 
of their being placed on an equality with the rabble- 
soldiery of the regular standing armies of Europe. At 
the proper time they will sustain him at the ballot-box 
against the assaults of faction with the same vigor and de- 
termination with which they defended their country's flag. 
There is something beautiful and touching in the 
manner in which Mr. Johnson always alludes to his 
native State (North Carolina), and his adopted State 
(Tennessee). His grateful affection to that State and 
people that had received him in early life, and that have 
honored, sustained, and promoted him, is a prominent 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 59 

trait in his character. It proves the warmth and kindli- 
ness of his nature, and that he possesses the virtue of 
gratitude. During the debate alluded to, something had 
been said which Mr. Johnson regarded as an unkind allu- 
sion to the State of Tennessee, and her being generally 
called the " Volunteer State." He said : 

" Not content with that invidious comparison between regular 
and volunteer troops, the Senator from Georgia must needs arraign 
the State I represent. It is true I am not her native son, but I 
am her adopted son. She took me by the haud, and that gen- 
erous, that brave, that patriotic people, have made me all that I 
am, be that much or little. Having placed me here, I intend to 
stand by her through evil and through good report. Come weal 
or come woe, I shall be found standing by her interests, her honor 
— her sacred honor — let the consequences be what they may. 
Yes, I love her. The tenderest sympathies of my soul are en- 
twined with her interests and her welfare. There is where I live, 
there is where I hope to die, and beneath the clods of some of her 
valleys I hope my remains will be deposited. It is the home of 
my children, it is a home that is sacred to me." 

On a previous occasion, when in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, in a speech delivered on his favorite measure — 
the Homestead bill — he thus spoke of North Carolina : 

" Some object to this measure, as calculated to take away the 
population from the old States. Let me ask the Old Dominion — 
let me ask North Carolina — God bless her ! for although she is 
not, as the Romans would call it, my alma mater, yet she is my 
mother ! Although Poverty, gaunt and haggard monster — ex- 
patriated me from her limits, to seek a home in my adopted 
State, where every fibre, every tendril of my heart is entwined 
with the interests of her people — yet, still North Carolina is my 
native State, and in my heart I respect and love her." 

Such sentiments, uttered in such warm and glowing 
language, could not have come from a cold and selfish 



60 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

man. They show a warmth of heart, a tender recollection 
of past associations, that are invariably accompanied by 
sincerity, generosity, and truthfulness. ~Ho man who is a 
sincere votary at the altars of his household gods, can be 
a mean or bad man. Any man who loves sincerely the 
place where his children first saw the light, or who reveres 
the spot where sleep the ashes of his parents, although he 
may have infirmities, yet he may he trusted. And so in 
regard to the place of his nativity or the place of his 
adopted home. Patriotism, love of country, is only a more 
enlarged sentiment of that attachment, reverence, and 
devotion the heart feels for the home of childhood, or the 
adopted home, where the social relations and the domestic 
affections expand into full bloom. No man ever betrayed 
his country, over whose heart crept a feeling of melancholy 
tenderness when he thought of the old homestead where 
he spent the halcyon days of his youth, or whose eyes were 
involuntarily moistened when recurring to the scenes and 
events associated with the budding and blooming of his 
domestic affections. Whilst we admire and honor Presi- 
dent Johnson for the manly and intellectual traits of his 
character — for the private and social virtues alluded to, we 
are bound to respect and love him. 



CHAPTER YI. 

Discussion on Resolutions of the Tennessee Legislature — Charge of Prejudice 
against Mr. Johnson unfounded. — Views on the Qualification of Voters 
under the Constitution— Views on Extravagant Appropriations — Predic- 
tions of the result of the Homestead Policy— Efforts for Retrenchment 
measures — Constitutional Objections to the Pacific Railroad Bill — Views 
on Presidential Conventions — Cost of a Pacific Railroad — The true philoso- 
phy of Mr. Johnson's Political Creed. 

Lt February, 1858, a most warm and exciting discus- 
sion took place in the Senate, running through the best 
part of three days, between Mr. Johnson and his colleague, 
Hon. John Bell. It grew out of the introduction of cer- 
tain resolutions passed by the Legislature of Tennessee, 
instructing* the Senators from that State to vote for the 
admission of Kansas as a State, etc. Inasmuch as the dis- 
cussion related almost exclusively to the local politics of 
Tennessee, and to crimination and recrimination between 
the parties, it is not deemed necessary to give extracts 
from Mr. Johnson's speeches on the occasion. Mr. 
Johnson never showed himself more powerful in debate. 
Many of his replies were impromptu. And when it is 
recollected that his adversary was the Hon. John Bell, one 
of the ablest men and most adroit debaters in this country 
— when it is further borne in mind that it was Mr. John- 
son's first session in the Senate, to say that he fully sus- 
tained himself, that he met Mr. Bell on every point, and 
came out of the discussion with largely increased reputa- 



62 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

tion for intellectual and oratorical power, is the highest 
praise that can be awarded to him. The reader is referred 
to this debate, as reported in Yol. 36 of the " Congressional 
Globe," as one of the finest specimens of dialectical skill 
and oratorical dexterity in our Congressional annals. Mr. 
Bell showed himself unusually great. Each found in the 
other a foeman worthy of his steel. There is one short 
extract the author is disposed to give from Mr. Johnson's 
reply, in order to prove that he has had injustice done 
him in the charge, from certain quarters, that his party 
feelings were so bitter as to amount to prejudice. The 
passage alluded to is where Mr. Johnson refers inciden- 
tally to Mr. Clay, the great leader of the Whig party, to 
which Mr. Johnson had been uniformly opposed. Mr. 
Johnson said : 

" We all remember the part taken by the distinguished states- 
man of Kentucky on that occasion — (the compromise measures of 
1850). Notwithstanding it had been part of my teaching and edu- 
cation to oppose that distinguished man, yet I always looked on him 
as a gallant, talented, and daring leader. In 1850, when I witnessed 
his efforts here in the Senate, when he was struggling for what 
he believed to be for the peace and harmony of the country, when 
he threw himself into the breach, when he was standing here 
receiving assaults from all quarters, I came here to listen to him 
with delight and pleasure every day. The gallant bearing and 
the noble sentiments uttered by that great man during that con- 
test, brought me up nearer to him, and removed many of the 
prejudices I had contracted in early life in reference to him." 

In March, 1858, the bill for the admission of Minnesota 
as a State into the Union was before the Senate. During 
the debate on this bill, Mr. Johnson said : 

" While I am up, I desire to enter my protest against a doc- 
trine which may be supposed to be advanced here, in reference to 
the qualification of the voters of a State. This Government has no 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 63 

power, under the Constitution of the United States, to fix the 
qualification of voters in any sovereign State of the Confederacy. 
I wish to enter my protest against the doctrine being indulged in, 
or cultivated to any extent, that this Government has power to go 
inside a sovereign State, and prescribe the qualification of her 
voters at the ballot-box. It is for the State and not for the Gov- 
ernment to do that. If the doctrine be once conceded, that the 
Federal Government has the power to fix the qualification of voters 
in a a State, the idea of State sovereignty is Utopian. There is no 
such thing as State sovereignty, if the Government can fix the 
qualification for voters. We have no right to inquire into it. 
There are simply two things to be ascertained here : First, have we 
evidence that a State has been formed ? Second, have we evidence 
that its constitution is republican in its character? These two 
things being ascertained, every thing else is for the State that 
applies for admission into the Union." 

These opinions of Mr. Johnson are of great importance, 
in reference to the bearing they may have on the readjust- 
ment now going on. The author is not disposed to discuss 
the question, as to whether the foregoing position is right 
or wrong. It is enough that they were Mr. Johnson's 
views in 1858. His position is assumed, fairly, squarely, 
unequivocally, and unconditionally. It is expressed in 
language forcible and decided. It is an opinion ex- 
pressed, not as a mere question of expedient policy, which 
may vary in its application according to circumstances ; 
but it is laid down as a principle — a principle involved in 
the very structure of our system of government. Principles 
are lasting, they are permanent, they cannot change with 
the shifting blasts of opinion. How, then, can any one 
who is a friend of Mr. Johnson, wish him to abjure a 
deliberately expressed opinion upon an abstract principle 
of constitutional right % Did those who are preparing to 
assail him, in reference to the qualifications of voters in 



64 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

the Southern states, expect him to renounce his opinions, 
as of record in the debates of the Senate ? Did they expect 
to drive him to it ? If so, they little know the man with 
whom they are dealing. Did they expect to wheedle and 
persnade him to it ? If they could succeed in that, would 
they then have any respect for him? And, moreover, 
what hopes could they have for a Government that was in 
the hands of so unstable a man ? Or was it, that having 
resolved on a breach with him, and knowing his firmness 
and consistency, they selected for an issue a question on 
which he had committed himself of record, and involving 
a principle on which they knew he would not retreat % 

At this time, when the public mind is so anxious in re- 
gard to our heavy indebtedness, and the high taxes that 
we may have to meet, it is comforting to know that in 
Mr. Johnson we have a President whose influence will be 
exerted against extravagance in the appropriation and ex- 
penditure of the public money. On this subject, his uni- 
form course in the Senate was in accord with his position 
when in the House of Kepresentatives. In May, 1858, he 
made a speech in the Senate against the proposition to ap- 
propriate money from the public Treasury for the estab- 
lishment of schools in the District of Columbia. He said, 
in referring to the constantly increasing expenses of the 
Government : 

" It is in the power of Congress to prevent these enormous 
expenditures, and, if we do not interpose, we are responsible for 
them. This Government, hut sixty-nine years of age, scarcely out 
of its swaddling-clothes, is making more corrupt uses of money, 
in proportion to the amount collected from the people, as I hon- 
estly believe, than any other Government on the face of the hab- 
itable globe. Just in proportion as you increase the amount 
collected and expended by the Federal Government, in the same 
. proportion corruption goes along with it; and when you run the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 65 

expenditures of the Government up to one hundred or one hun- 
dred and fifty millions a year, the Treasury of the United States 
will control the whole nation, and the people of the respective 
States will have very little part in the Government, except to foot 
its hills in the shape of taxes." 

In May, 1858, Mr. Johnson delivered, in the Senate, the 
greatest of his many great speeches on his favorite measure, 
the "Homestead Bill." Having heretofore given very 
copious extracts from his speeches on this question in the 
House of Eepresentatives, it is not deemed necessary to 
quote further from his arguments in favor of the proposi- 
tion. The following extract, however, is given to show 
the brightness and prosperity of that future for his country, 
which he foresaw and predicted would result from the in- 
auguration of the " homestead " policy : 

" Let me here make the inquiry, where, in the history of man- 
kind, in the progress of nations, was there any nation that ever 
reached the point we now occupy 1 When was there a nation, in 
its settlement, its progress, and its achievement of all that con- 
stitutes national greatness, that occupied the position we now do ? 
When was there any nation that could look to the East, and he- 
hold the tide of emigration coming, and, at the same time, turn 
around and look to the mighty West, and behold the tide of emi- 
gration rolling from that direction too ? The waves of emigra- 
tion have usually been found running in one direction, but we find 
the tides of emigration approaching from opposite directions, so 
that we are occupying the central position on the globe. And 
when our vacant territory shall be filled up, and our population 
shall reach a hundred or a hundred and fifty millions, who can 
conceive what will be our destiny ? 

" We may look forward to the time when our railroad system 
shall be perfected, extending from one extreme of the country to 
the other, like so many arteries ; when our telegraphic wires shall 
be stretched alongside them, as the nerves in the human arms, 
running in parallel lines, and crossing each other, until this great 



66 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

centre of the globe shall be covered with a network of these 
arteries and nerves, when the whole face of our country shall 
flash intelligence like the face of man. Then this great central 
position on the globe, instead of receiving other nations from 
abroad, will be the great censorium from which our system of gov- 
ernment, religion, and human advancement, morally and materially, 
shall radiate in every direction, and ultimately revolutionize the 
world. 

" So far as I am concerned, if this bill could be passed, and 
the system which it inaugurates fully carried out — of furnishing 
to every man a home, and thus attaching him to the soil, and 
identifying his interests with the interests of his country — when I 
look into the distant future, and contemplate the results, I feel 
that my little mission would be accomplished. All that I desire 
is the honor and the credit of being one of the American Congress 
to consummate this great scheme, that is to elevate our race, and 
to make our institutions more permanent. 

" I can go back to that period in my own history, when I 
could not say I had a home. This being so, when I cast my eyes 
from one extreme of the United States to the other, and behold 
the great numbers that are homeless, I feel for them. This bill, if 
passed, would give them homes, and I wish to see them realizing 
this sweet conception, when each and all can exclaim, 'I have a 
home, an abiding place for my wife and children.' Yes, Mr. Presi- 
dent, if I should never be heard of again on earth, the proud and 
conscious satisfaction of having contributed my humble aid to the 
consummation of this great measure, is all the reward 1 desire." 

Notwithstanding the earnest efforts of Mr. Johnson 
and the other friends of the measure, they were unable to 
get a vote on it during this session of 1857-'58, and conse- 
quently it had to go over to the next session. The next 
session being a short session, for want of time it again 
failed to reach a decisive vote. 

At the session of 1858-59, President Buchanan having, 
in his annual message, recommended retrenchment in the 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 67 

expenditures of the Government, Mr. Johnson devoted his 
main efforts toward carrying out that policy, and in sup- 
port of his great favorite measure, the Homestead bill. 
On this question of retrenchment and economy in the 
public expenditures, he has always exhibited such a deep- 
seated conviction of its importance as to show that he re- 
gards the tendency of our Government to wasteful extrava- 
gance so strong, as to threaten our liberties as a people. 
On this subject, at this session, he displayed his usual 
tenacity of purpose and determination of character. At 
four different times during the session he brought this 
question before the Senate, by introducing resolutions in- 
structing the Committee on Finance to confer with the 
heads of departments, and report a general system of re- 
duction of the expenses of the Government. He urged 
his proposition in the most earnest and forcible appeals to 
the sense of duty, and consistency with their professions, 
on the part of Senators. Though foiled in his purpose, 
again and again, he did not desist. On January 4, 1859, 
Mr. Johnson said : 

" I have been waiting a long time, and looking for a favorable 
opportunity to commence the work of retrenchment. I have 
long been satisfied, in my own mind, that it cannot be done, un- 
less the movement be headed by the Administration of the coun- 
try. One member may come into the Senate-chamber, and a few 
others into the House of Eepresentatives, and they may talk 
about retrenchment, and introduce resolutions, and offer proposi- 
tions, but it results in nothing. The effort fails ; there is no re- 
trenchment commenced, and there is no reform brought about. 
But now we have a favorable opportunity. It is a time of peace. 
A Democratic President now proposes, in his annual message, to 
lead in this work of retrenchment. The President proposes to 
lead, and why shall we not join him in the effort ? It never will 
be done until this or some other Administration places itself in 
the lead of this great work. 



68 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

"In 1790 the population of the United States was a fraction 
less than four millions, and the expenditures in 1*791 were two 
million dollars. In 1858 the population was twenty-eight mill- 
ions, and the expenditures of the Government for the last year 
were about seventy-five millions of dollars. From 1790 up to 
the present time, the population has increased seven-fold, whilst 
the expenditures of the Government have increased thirty-five 
fold. Thus it appears that from 1790 to the present time, the ex- 
penditures of the Government have gone twenty-eight hundred 
per cent, in advauce of the population. With that ratio going 
on in the future, how long will it be before the expenditures of 
the Government go beyond the ability of the people to pay the 
same? 

" I know, so far as I am concerned — and I say it in no spirit 
of egotism — that my acts, my votes, and my speeches in the Con- 
gress of the United States, for a number of years, correspond 
with my professions ; and I am willing now to reduce my profes- 
sions to practice. I am satisfied that the expenditures of this 
Government are too great, and satisfied that they are unnecessary 
and profligate. I do honestly believe that millions of the public 
money are collected, and squandered here for improper purposes. 
If we are earnest in this matter, if we are sincere, let us give the 
public some evidence of our sincerity. Let us not continue to 
talk about extravagance .and expenditures, but let us reduce our 
professions and our theories to practice." 

On this subject, as on all others which Mr. Johnson 
touches, he speaks so plainly and unequivocally, that the 
reader is at no loss to understand him. The people of this 
country know exactly what is his position in regard to 
Government expenditures. And from his firmness and 
consistency of character, they may rely upon his practice 
as President, conforming to his professions when Senator. 
His objections to heavy expenditures are based not only 
on his opposition to extravagance, as involving heavy tax- 
ation, but still more on the corruption and peculation they 
are likely to produce and foster. 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 69 

In January, 1859, the proposition was before the Sen- 
ate for building a railroad across the continent to the Pa- 
cific Ocean. The debate on it was a very able one, many 
of the most prominent men in the Senate participated in 
it. Mr. Johnson's speech on the subject was of extraordi- 
nary power and ability. That speech alone would have 
established his character as a deep thinker, as an able and 
eloquent debater, and as a legislator of an eminently prac- 
tical cast of mind. The whole speech should be read, in 
order to a proper appreciation of its merits. Mr. John- 
son objected to it on account of the latitudinous construc- 
tion of the Constitution, under the power "to declare 
war," which its advocates had to resort to, in order to jus- 
tify its constitutionality. In the extracts given from this 
great speech, the author has not selected those marked by 
most ability, or exhibiting the most oratorical talent, 
but those best calculated to afford information in reference 
to Mr. Johnson's fixed views and opinions on practical 
questions that may arise hereafter. He said : 

" It is somewhat difficult to determiue what character of im- 
provemeut is clearly within the Constitution, or, in other words, to 
determine what particular character of improvement is national, 
and what is local. I know the distinction is hard to draw, in 
many instances, for local works approach national works so closely 
that the line of division is scarcely within reach of the human in- 
tellect ; but there are some things that are certain. We cannot 
tell exactly when the light of day terminates and the shades of 
night begin, hut we can tell when it is mid-day, when the sun is at 
meridian, and when midnight darkness is upon us. So we can 
determine the character of some of the works of internal improve- 
ment, we can tell when they are glaringly unconstitutional. I 
have been taught, and it is my settled conviction, that in all ques- 
tions of doubt as to the constitutional power of Congress, in ref- 
erence to internal improvements, Congress should desist from the 



70 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

exercise of a doubtful power, aud, before its exercise, should look 
to the source of all our power, in order to specially define the extent 
of the authority to be exercised by the legislative body. I also 
believe in the fundamental principle laid, down by Mr. Jefferson : 
that in all doubtful questions we should pursue principle, and that in 
the pursuit of a correct principle you cannot reach a wrong conclu- 
sion. What is the principle involved in this proposition ? We 
assume, putting it on the best ground on which it can be placed, 
that it is of doubtful power, at least. Then, falling back on the 
rule laid down by Mr. Jefferson, what is the principle ? It is to call 
upon the source of all power before you exercise a doubtful 
authority. 

" The President, in his message, disclaims the power as exist- 
ing in the Constitution, unless it is derived from the war power. 
This is an honest difference of opinion. I do not believe it can 
be derived from that power. There are others who claim the 
power as arising from the power in the Constitution to regulate 
commerce. I do not think that provision in the Constitution 
which provides for the regulation of commerce, confers power on 
Congress to make or create commerce. Some derive the power 
from that provision of the Constitution which authorizes Congress 
to establish post-offices and post-roads. I do not believe the lan- 
guage employed in the Constitution to be so meant. The debates 
in the Convention do not show that Congress was to make and 
construct roads through the country. The Constitution means, I 
think, simply and plainly, that where there are lines of communi- 
cation, Congress may establish them as the Government channels 
through which communications of this kind may go, but not to 
construct roads." 

It had been urged, during the discussion on this meas- 
ure, that the Democratic Convention at Cincinnati which 
nominated Mr. Buchanan, had passed a resolution in favor 
of the policy of constructing a railroad to the Pacific. Mr. 
Johnson boldly repelled the idea of his being trammelled in 
the discharge of his senatorial duty by the action of such 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 71 

a body. Eeferring to the Cincinnati Convention, he 
said : 

" I think of that convention, as I Lave thought ahout all con- 
ventions, from my earliest advent into public life to the present 
time. We know how these conventions are gotten up. Expe- 
rience and observation have satisfied my mind that the old Con- 
gressional caucus system was infinitely preferable to your recent 
national convention system. In the one case, the members of 
Congress, who made the nomination, felt that they had some 
responsibility resting upon them, and when they went to their 
Congressional districts, they were responsible for the nominee 
whom they 'had put upon the country as a candidate for the 
Presidency. I do not say it from any disrespect, but I refer to it 
as an historical fact, that a large proportion of the persons who at- 
tend national conventions go there without representing any 
body. 

" I most sincerely hope the time will come when the people 
of the United States will have the constitutional right to elect 
their own President. Do they elect him now ? They do not. 
Packed conventions are gotten up, and they, by the means to 
which I refer, make a nomination on one side or the other. Al- 
though our people are, in theory, a free people, and are supposed 
to elect their President, the fact is that, in practice, the conven- 
tions have made the choice before the people are called on to 
vote. After these conventions, on the one side and the other, 
have chosen a President, the freemen of this country are brought 
up to the ballot-box and taken through the ridiculous mockery of 
voting for electors. I have supported the nominees of conven- 
tions, and I have been in conventions, but need I stultify myself, 
or deceive myself? Do I not see their tendency — their alarming, 
corrupting, and dangerous tendency ? " 

Let it be recollected this language was uttered in high 
party times. What a remarkable degree of bold and 
manly courage does it not bespeak, in any man, who could 
thus assail a system to which all parties were committed, 



72 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

and by which he ran the risk of arousing the opposition 
of the legion of professional politicians throughout the 
country ? In this Mr. Johnson was true to the great lead- 
ing element of his character as a public man — devotion to 
the eights of the people. He saw that the system of 
nominating conventions practically deprived the people of 
the great privilege intended to be secured to them — that 
of electing their own Chief Magistrate. 

He next proceeded to expose the enormous cost of this 
road to the Government, by the gratuities to the con- 
tractors, in the first instance— $25,000,000 in five per cent. 
Government bonds, 25,000,000 acres of land lying on each 
side of the road, and a remission of the duty on all the 
railroad iron — costing the Government, according to his 
(Mr. Johnson's) estimates, certainly $100,000,000, and 
more probably $200,000,000. 

The following views, in regard to the difficulties of such 
a work, show the practical character of Mr. Johnson's 
mind. Although living in the mountain region of Ten- 
nessee, where he had but little opportunity of observing 
the practical operations on the great channels of trade and 
intercourse, yet he had evidently studied and reflected 
deeply on such subjects. He said : 

" If this road were constructed now, if it were completed in 
the course of a night by enchantment — so that it would cost the 
Government nothing — yet it would cost more than the entire 
expenses of the War Department to run the road. Why, you 
cannot protect the road when built. Suppose you put five men 
per mile on the road, for two thousand miles, and it will require 
ten thousand men. In the manner in which we have been raising 
regiments by this Government, it has cost us one million dollars 
for each thousand men. That was the estimate at the last session. 
Then you must take into the account the interest on the money ex- 
pended, and the other expenses of keeping up the road without 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 73 

way-travel or way-freight. You must rely on through travel to 
sustain the line along such a trunk of railroad as that will be, if 
ever constructed, and all the railroad statistics of the country 
prove that railroads must rely on way-travel and way-freight to be 
sustained. You must have people, you must have country, you 
must have commerce, to sustain the road, and not arid and sterile 
deserts." 

The argument had been used that the construction of 
this railroad to the Pacific would strengthen the bonds of 
union among the States. In reply to this suggestion, Mr. 
Johnson said : 

" I have never considered the Union yet in danger. I do not 
believe all the factionists of this Government can pull it to pieces. 
They cannot dissolve the bonds that unite us — the bonds of 
mutual interest and patriotism, strengthened by the associations 
of a common suffering in the past, and a common prosperity for 
the future. * * * My great apprehensions — and I think 
they are well founded, when I look at the tendency of our whole 
policy — are, that every thing is tending to the centre ; and just in 
proportion as you increase the amount of money collected and 
disbursed by this Government, in the very same proportion you 
increase the centralizing power here. 

" The great fault and difficulty is, that we legislate too much, 
and one-half of our legislation is an impediment, an obstruction, 
thrown in the way of the laws of Nature, preventing our people 
from conforming their action and conduct to great fundamental 
laws. Let your Government take as little from the people as pos- 
sible ; permit them to enjoy their own industry ; protect them in 
their pursuits ; let the people become rich, and let your Treasury 
remain poor. I am glad the Treasury is empty. I am not sure 
that I shall vote to borrow a dollar. I think it is a fortunate 
thing for the country that it is reduced, and even drained, for the 
idea has got to be predominant here — I was going to say irre- 
spective of party — that the way to get power, and to become 
popular, is by the expenditure of large sums of money." 
4 



74 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

The last extracts above quoted contain the true phi- 
losophy of Mr. Johnson's political creed. They are full of 
meaning. They comprise the science of government sim- 
plified — that the great aim and object of Government, 
are the prosperity and happiness of the people — the whole 
people ; that the normal occupation and pursuit of man, 
is in the advancement of his happiness and moral elevation, 
by his own industry and labor ; that the purpose of gov- 
ernment is to protect and encourage him in these pursuits ; 
that legislation should be confined and restrained within 
these limits ; that the schemes and projects of peculiar 
classes, interests, and monopolies, tend to complicate and 
amplify legislation ; that consequently too much legisla- 
tion is to be guarded against, as tending to corruption, 
and as antagonistic to the rights and interests of the great 
masses of the people. It is cheering and consoling, at this 
time of difficulty and derangement of our political affairs 
and sectional relations, to reflect that we have for our 
Chief Magistrate a man who had the rare moral courage 
to hold up to public reprobation the tendency to corrup- 
tion and class favoritism in our legislation. It is comfort- 
ing to know that in this great popular Tribune, Andrew 
Johnson, we have a President, who, to the extent of his 
power and influence, will rear up again the old landmarks 
of principle erected by the fathers, and will bring back the 
administration of the Government to the intent and pur- 
pose of its immortal founders. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The South must contend for its Rights in the Union — The Union must be Main- 
tained at all Hazards — Passage of the Homestead Bill in the Senate — Veto 
of Mr. Buchanan — Speech of Mr. Johnson— Failure to pass the Bill over the 
Veto — One peculiarity in all his great Speeches — Views on the Smithsonian 
Institution— Key to his Character as a Public Man— Resolutions relative 
to the distribution of Official Patronage — Remarks on the Clerical Force in 
the Public Offices— Corrupt Practices of Members of Congress— Amend- 
ments to Bills moved by Mr. Johnson — Opposition to the Voting of books 
— Efforts to guard the Character of Congress against any grounds for Sus- 
picion. 

In December, 1859, Mr. Johnson delivered in the 
Senate a speech of great ability and eloquence on a resolu- 
tion offered by Mr. Mason, of Virginia, for inquiring into 
all the facts connected with the foray at Harper's Ferry 
by John Brown. This speech should be read through and 
through, in order to an appreciation of the oratorical talent 
exhibited by Mr. Johnson, and also to a proper understand- 
ing of his position on the points so long at issue between 
the North and South. That was a time of most intense 
excitement, of bitterness and acrimony, between the two 
sections. The South was enraged on account of the scenes 
perpetrated at Harper's Ferry — the North was enraged at 
the outrages in Kansas, which the Northern members 
insisted had instigated Brown in his raid. Mr. Johnson's 
speech was in earnest advocacy of the constitutional rights 
of the South, but it was in good temper, and free from 
violent and intemperate denunciation. It was a serious, 
an able, and ardent appeal to all men and all sections, in 
favor of harmony and conciliation. It was the speech of 
a statesman who felt apprehensions of coming trouble. 



76 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Mr. Johnson then stated the ground on which he stood, and 
which he consistently maintained to the last. That was, 
that the South must contend for its rights, and do battle 
for its constitutional privileges, under the Constitution 
and in the Union. He never did concur with those who 
were for seeking redress by dissolving the Union. He 
needs no stronger vindication of his course, even with the 
most ultra advocates of Southern rights, than is to be 
found in that speech. He had the sagacity to see that the 
only segis for the protection of slavery in the States, was 
the Constitution of the United States. He had warned his 
Southern brethren that they must fight the battle under 
that instrument, and that a resort to disunion would only 
be playing into the hands of the radical disunion factionists 
of the North. Time has proven his wisdom and foresight. 
How much better had it been for the South, if his counsels 
had been followed ! Mr. Johnson had been, from his first 
taking his seat in Congress, an earnest, consistent, bold, 
and able advocate of the rights of the Southern people 
under the Constitution. But he had also ever declared his 
determination to maintain the Union at all hazards. ISTo 
one, therefore, had a right to complain, or to charge him 
with inconsistency, when, on the issue being made, he 
clung to the Union. 
Mr. Johnson said : 

" For myself, I am no disunionist ; I am no madcap on that 
subject. Because we cannot get our constitutional rights, I do 
not intend to be one of those who will violate the Constitution. 
When the time comes, if ever it does come, when it shall he 
necessary — and God forbid that it ever should come — I intend to 
place myself on the Constitution which I have sworn to support, 
aud to stand there and battle for all its guarantees ; and if the 
Constitution is to be violated, if the Union is to be broken up, it 
shall be done by those who are stealthily and insidiously making 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 77 

encroachments on its very foundation. I intend to stand upon 
the Constitution to the very last. * * * God forbid 
that the time should ever come when this country shall be involved 
in a servile or a civil war ! I trust that that day may be post- 
poned to some far-distant future, and I hope, in the sincerity of 
my heart, that that future may never arrive. I would rather see 
this people involved in hostility against every power on the civil- 
ized globe, than to see it involved in civil and servile war. If 
blood is to be shed, be it so ; but let it not be the blood of the 
people of these Confederated States fighting against each other. 
So far as I am concerned, I intend to stand by the Constitution 
and its guarantees, as the palladium of our civil and religious 
liberty. When the time shall come, if ever it does come, for 
dividing this Union, I ask my friends, North and South, where is 
the line to be drawn ? " 

On May 10th, 1860, the Senate came to a vote on Mr. 
Johnson's great measure, the Homestead bill, and it passed 
by the large vote of 44 to 8. It had previously passed the 
House of Representatives by a vote of 112 to 51. On the 
23d of June following, Mr. President Buchanan sent in his 
veto upon the passage of the bill. The Senate proceeded 
to a vote on the reconsideration ; and it was lost on a vote 
of yeas 27, nays 18 — two-thirds not voting for it. Mr. 
Johnson made a very earnest and able speech on the veto 
message, in which he displayed his great power as an off- 
hand and impromptu, debater. Of course, he could have 
had no time for preparation. Yet he took up the various 
points of objection in the veto message, seriatim / dissected 
them, exposed their fallacies ; and exposed Mr. Buchanan's 
inconsistencies and prevarications, in a most effective man- 
ner. The freedom with which he spoke of Mr. Buchanan, 
and his sophistical positions, proved that Andrew Johnson 
was no time-serving partisan. He evidently felt deeply 
and indignantly at seeing his long-cherished measure, after 



78 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

passing both Houses by a more than two-thirds vote in 
each House, thus summarily defeated by the Executive 
veto. He said : 

" The President's argument against the hill, on the ground of 
unconstitutionality, is simply absurd, not to say ridiculous, after 
the long-established usage of the Government — receiving the sanc- 
tion of nearly every President of the United States. The policy 
of granting lands to individuals, by the Government, as home- 
steads, was approved by Washington, sanctioned by Jefferson, 
and cherished by Jackson ; whose names and memories will 
compare, in my opinion, most favorably with that of the present 
Administration. Whether considerations so national, so humane, 
so Christian, have ever penetrated the brain of one whose bosom 
has never yet swelled with emotions for wife or children, is for an 
enlightened public to determine. 

" I always have respect for a man who fills the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States, irrespective of party ; and it would be 
very natural for me to have more respect for a President of my 
own party, than for any one of opposite politics. But does the 
fact of the President's objecting change the nature and character 
of great principles and truths ? If there is a great fundamental 
principle in this measure, involving the welfare of the Govern- 
ment and the great cause of humanity, the fact that the President 
withholds his approval does not change my opinion. If there 
were forty Presidents, with forty assistants to write out vetoes, 
I would still stand by this bill, and give it the sanction of my 
vote and my support. 

" In these revolutionary times, it is hard to tell where we are 
going ; and it is, perhaps, difficult for each individual to know 
his precise locality. I started for this bill on principle, I sup- 
ported it upon principle, I voted for it upon principle, and I in- 
tend to follow it to its conclusion, let it carry me wheresoever it 
may. For, in the pursuit of a correct principle, I feel well as- 
sured that I can never reach a wrong conclusion. Whether the 
President differs from me, or concurs with me, I do not intend to 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 79 

veer either to the right or to the left. My course is onward and 
direct." 

As a member of Congress, Mr. Johnson rarely dis- 
turbed himself with local questions with, which he had no 
concern — nor did he make himself odious to his fellow- 
members by interfering in their private legislation, unless 
when he saw the public interest was likely to suffer. But 
there was scarcely any great measure agitated in which he 
did not participate in the debate. In this, he avoided the 
rock on which many promising young men, who possess 
oratorical powers, are apt to founder : that is, the frittering 
away their talents and their usefulness by constantly talk- 
ing on any and every question. When great and exciting 
subjects came up for discussion, he evidently informed him- 
self in regard to them ; and hence it was that he rarely 
failed to present some new and striking views in debating 
them. He exhibited that sort of common sense — not too 
common among public debaters — to know when to speak, 
and to know when to stop speaking. The great extent of 
his information in regard to the political history of the 
country, is really surprising, and cannot fail to strike any 
one on reading his speeches. There is one peculiarity in 
all his great speeches — after examining a subject upon its 
merits as affecting the governmental policy of the country, 
he invariably applies to it the touchstone, by which he 
tests all public measures, viz., its bearing and influence 
upon the rights, the prosperity, and welfare of the people. 
No matter how specious, how plausible, how captivating 
may be the garb in which a practised debater might adorn 
any favorite scheme, yet if Mr. Johnson saw in it any 
thing which ignored the wishes and disregarded the inter- 
ests of the great mass of the people, no one was at a loss 
to know where he would be found. 

Whilst Mr. Johnson was not a common talker on small 



80 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

and immaterial questions, yet the journals of Congress will 
show that he paid strict attention to the details of business 
in all practical matters involving the general good. In 
his views he inclined to the practical and the useful, rather 
than to the grand and the imposing. In regard to the 
" Smithsonian Institution," which has been a sort of pet of 
the Government, he seems to have thought that the inten- 
tion of the donor — the founding an institution " for the in- 
crease and diffusion of knowledge among men " — would 
be much better consulted by establishing a University, 
whence the blessings of education could be generally dif- 
fused, than by such an institution as Congress had en- 
dowed with the fund bequeathed by Mr. Smithson. Ac- 
cording to his practical view, mere grandeur and imposing 
appearance, in their appeals to the senses, were much less 
likely to confer blessings on the country and the com- 
munity at large, than an institution where learning and 
education might be disseminated among the rising genera- 
tion. He accordingly introduced a resolution in January, 
1848, proposing to raise a committee, who shall " take into 
consideration the propriety of so changing and remodelling 
the present design of the Smithsonian Institution, as to 
convert it into a University, in the extended sense of the 
term, including the manual labor feature — embracing agri- 
culture, horticulture, and all the various branches of mech- 
anism, or as many of them as may be deemed practicable 
and useful to the country." 

The minutest details of legislation did not escape Mr. 
Johnson's notice, especially where the interests and happi- 
ness of numbers were concerned. No more striking in- 
stance can be presented than in a resolution offered by him 
in January, 1848, as follows : 

"Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be in- 
structed to inquire into the expediency of providing a new and 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 81 

complete tent for the army, which shall protect the men from the 
water and the weather, he easily and quickly pitched and struck, 
and combine size, lightness, durability, and strength, with com- 
pactness of packing and facility of transportation." 

The introduction of the above is at once a key to Mr. 
Johnson's character as a public man. It shows that the 
practical and the useful was his aim as a legislator. The 
peculiar phraseology and minute particularity of the reso- 
lution show the earnestness of purpose by which he was 
actuated. His thoughts and sympathies were for the men 
— the common soldiers of the army. He knew that, so far 
as the officers were concerned, their comfort would be sure 
to be provided for. If Mr. Johnson had been on the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, then there might have been 
nothing remarkable in his offering such a proposition. But 
he did not belong to that committee. He was not particu- 
larly called on to attend to matters of that sort. If he 
had been a representative from some one of the large 
cities, or some great commercial thoroughfare, where the 
wants and requirements of the army were matters of' 
public discussion, there would have been nothing peculiar 
in it. But he was from the mountain region of East Ten- 
nessee, where a soldier was hardly ever seen. The author, 
in presenting so earnestly this incident in Mr. Johnson's 
legislative experience, is aware that most persons would 
regard it as a very trivial, commonplace affair. The object 
is to show the entire consistency of the man upon any and 
all subjects, under any and all circumstances — that the 
philosophical principle which governs and directs his po- 
litical life is the development of the practical and the 
useful for the welfare of the many. In looking at the 
army, Mr. Johnson saw that the common soldiery, the rank 
and file, constituted an important — the most important — 
element in its construction ; in the same way that, in ob- 



82 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

serving the Government of the country, he regards the 
people as the greater element than their official represent- 
atives. Mr. Johnson is a thorough disciple and advocate 
of the Baconian system of philosophy. Practical expe- 
rience he considers to be the only test of truth and safety 
in all temporal and material things. The elevation of the 
masses, and the advancement of their prosperity and hap- 
piness, he regards as the great end and aim of all knowl- 
edge, all science, all government. 

It was in pursuance of these principles — that the ad- 
vantages, the benfits, and emoluments of the Government 
belong to all alike — that Mr. Johnson introduced a series 
of resolutions, in March, 1848, which provided for the dis- 
tribution of the official patronage of the Government 
among the different Congressional districts, so as to give to 
" each district its fair ratio of offices under the Federal 
Government." 

This proposition is eminently right and proper in itself, 
and it is strange that some legislation on the subject has 
not heretofore regulated the matter. From the founda- 
tion of the Government three-fourths of the offices have 
been monopolized by a few States contiguous to Washing- 
ton. Not only was there rank injustice in this, but those 
Congressional districts, represented by members who were 
not political friends of the Administration, were cut off 
from all hope of any official patronage under the Govern- 
ment. The proposition was a very liberal one indeed, 
coming from one whose party had, with the exception of 
a few years, been in power for twenty years. If Mr. John- 
son's proposition had been passed into a law, every Con- 
gressional district, no matter how much its people or its 
representatives might have been opposed to the party in 
power, would have received its due share of official patron- 
age. It would have struck a blow at corruption in the ap- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 83 

pointing power, when it might have been considered neces- 
sary to appoint certain men, to effect certain party objects, 
in any certain district. It is important now to refer to Mr. 
Johnson's course on the subject in 1848. Possessing, as 
he now does, the entire appointing power, the country may 
feel assured that he will, in the distribution of office, con- 
sult the rights, the wishes, and the interests of every section. 
Upon this, as upon all other subjects, he is opposed to mo- 
nopolies, whether of classes, of pursuits, or of sections. 

There is one great abuse which has long prevailed at 
Washington, a reform of which the country may confi- 
dently rely upon, judging from Mr. Johnson's recorded 
opinions on the subject. The abuse alluded to is the mul- 
tiplication of the number of clerks and employes at Wash- 
ington whenever there is a temporary excess of labor to be 
performed in any of the departments. Many of them, 
whilst receiving pay from the Government for doing but 
little, are the pensioned correspondents of newspapers all 
over the Union, who deal in sensational letters, and who 
write this man up and that man down, according to their 
partialities or their prejudices. This class of men have 
become to be an institution, as it were. They are the 
manufacturers of a factitious public opinion in regard to 
men and to measures. They have become to be a power in 
the State, and their pens are wielded in terrorem. Mr. 
Johnson seems to understand them thoroughly. In some 
remarks by him, in the Thirtieth Congress, on a proposition 
for an increase of clerical force in the pension office, Mr. 
Johnson said : 

" In some offices there are too many clerks ; deploy them, 
concentrate your forces on some other point, and you can have the 
business of the country performed without augmenting the num- 
ber of offices, that are constantly increasing and preying on the 
vitals of the country. I know that in this particular atmosphere 



84: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

it is a little dangerous to talk about office-holders. Many of them 
have nothing to do but to write letters to puff particular individ- 
uals, and he who dares raise his voice against this interested 
clique, this set of political vampires, who are fixed upon the 
Government and who care nothing for the interests of the people, 
is, I know, treading on dangerous ground. They write letters to 
the newspapers in various sections of the country, and misrepresent 
and vilify any one who dares to expose abuses of this sort. I had 
almost as soon set my foot in a nest of electric eels as to come in 
contact with this class of pensioners upon the public Treasury. 
Go along Pennsylvania Avenue of an evening, and whom do you 
find there ? Why, this class of men, lounging about the hotels 
and places of public resort — some of them with pencil and paper 
in hand, collecting and noting down facts for a letter. A most en- 
lightened set of gentlemen ! " 

Mr. Johnson exhibited great vigilance and boldness and 
independence (for it required no small amount of these 
last-named traits) in maintaining the dignity of Congress 
and the personal reputation of its members. It is well 
known that much had been said, and many scandalous in- 
sinuations indulged in, in regard to the corrupt practices 
of members of Congress — of their urging measures through, 
in which they were personally interested — their receiving 
fees for their influence in the prosecution of claims, etc. 
Mr. Johnson seems to have been particularly shocked at 
any intimations of this sort, and he never failed to speak 
out boldly and in the most unqualified terms of denuncia- 
tion at even the remotest grounds for suspicion. On a 
proposition to distribute the appointments of midshipmen 
in the navy among the Congressional districts — assimilat- 
ing the appointments to those of cadets at West Point — 
Mr. Johnson moved an amendment — 

" Provided that a member of Congress making a nomination, 
shall not nominate his own son, nor the son of any other member." 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 85 

When the bill for establishing the Court of Claims was 
nnder consideration, Mr. Johnson moved as an amend- 
ment — 

" That if any member of Congress shall appear as counsel or 
attorney, or otherwise aid any claimant in establishing any claim 
or claims against the United States before said Board of Com- 
missioners, the seat of such member shall be vacated, and the 
member rendered ineligible for the remainder of the term for 
which he was elected." 

Mr. Johnson said he " thought members of Cougress 
should be kept out of this business ; if they are not, they 
will monopolize all the business of this new court. It is 
opening the door to corruption — it is offering an oppor- 
tunity to members of Congress to receive bribes in the 
shape of fees. As an evidence of the propriety of some 
such restriction, we see notices put in the newspapers by 
members of Congress, proposing to prosecute claims against 
the Government of the United States. If this court is 
established, it will be merely transferring the business of 
the Committee on Claims to the Board of Commissioners, 
and gentlemen know that these considerations must exercise 
an influence over the minds of members, when the cases 
are brought up here." 

Mr. Johnson was equally severe in his strictures upon 
the custom, for many years past prevailing, of members of 
Congress voting to themselves heavy douceurs, in the shape 
of very valuable books. This had become to be regarded 
as a great outrage, even among members of Congress 
themselves, and throughout the country. The only decent 
pretence ever put forth in its mitigation was, that it had 
been long sanctioned by custom, and that every Congress, 
in voting to themselves these books, only did what others 
before them had done. In the Twenty-eighth Congress, on 
a proposition to purchase Greenhow's " History of Oregon 



86 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

and California," Mr. Johnson moved an amendment to 
rescind the resolution of 1844, which directed the Clerk to 
furnish to each member of the House snch books as were 
furnished to the members of the Twenty-sixth and Twenty- 
seventh Congresses. Mr. Johnson said : 

" I think it is time, as expressed in my amendment, that this 
matter should be put an end to. There is no difference between 
members voting themselves five or six hundred dollars additional 
pay, and voting the amount in books. I know an instance in 
which a member got the books ordered, and then sold them for 
one hundred and fifty dollars. The Government pays this enor- 
mous price (five hundred to six hundred dollars), members then 
sell them at this greatly reduced price (one hundred and fifty 
dollars), and put the money into their pockets. The next Congress 
orders them for its members, and pays this same excessive price 
to those booksellers that thus buy them of the members, who do 
not care enough for them to take them home. No public benefit 
results from these purchases of books by Congress for members ; 
for when not sold by them, they are taken home and deposited in 
their private libraries. If this practice is to continue, what an 
immense expense will it entail on the Government ! I am 
informed, by a gentleman who has investigated the subject, that 
it has already cost the Government nearly a million of dollars." 

In the cases thus referred to, Mr. Johnson's purpose 
evidently was, to guard the character of Congress against 
any grounds for suspicion. He regarded legislation as 
designed for the protection of the people's rights, and the 
advancement of their prosperity. He knew that the public 
treasure and popular freedom must suffer if the representa- 
tive was unfaithful, and hence his anxiety to guard the 
latter against temptation even. It also shows what a high 
estimate he placed on the position of a Kepresentative of 
the people. Some members looked upon these practices 
of procuring warrants for their own sons in the army and 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 87 

navy, or of swapping influence with fellow-members in 
regard to the promotion of their sons, as small matters, not 
involving any stigma whatever. Others regarded the 
taking of fees, for prosecuting claims against the Govern- 
ment, as mere professional transactions. Not so Andrew 
Johnson. He wished to preserve immaculate the charac- 
ter of the Kepresentatives of the people. He thought of 
them as Caesar did of his wife — that they must be not only 
pure, but unsuspected. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

Public Opinion of Congressional Character— The " Gardiner claim "—Indigna- 
tion of Mr. Johnson— Denounces it in the House— The Position he 
assumed— Bearing of his Views at the present time— His watchful Vigi- 
lance over the Treasury— Views on the Increase of Salaries— His Position 
on the Tariff Question— The Object to present his Views and settled 
Opinions— His open-hearted Candor and Freedom from Prevarication- 
Sympathy for the People— Effects of the Homestead Act— Opposition to 
the Know-Nothing Movement— Union Character of that Movement. 

It is well known to the reader that, for many years 
past, the prestige of Congressional character has become 
materially impaired by the thousands of rumors that go 
out from Washington, in regard to the demoralization of 
the members, in perverting the influence of their official 
station to their own interests and to the advancement 
and promotion of friends, etc. Whether true or not, these 
charges have greatly affected public opinion; and, to a 
considerable extent, the popular respect and admiration 
for the legislative department of the Government have 
become lessened. This is much to be regretted. For in 
order to make a people proud of their Government, and 
proud of themselves as being the citizens of a Government 
which they admire and respect, they must have confidence 
in its purity and in its faithfulness to the great principles 
on which it is founded. The people of the country have 
much to hope from President Johnson, on this subject. 
His stern and uncompromising opinions in regard to the 
purity and integrity which should mark the character of 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 89 

the Representatives of the people are well known. The 
public mind may rest secure that he will not only never 
tamper with their integrity in his high executive capacity, 
but that he will exercise his executive power and influence, 
whenever necessary, in resisting every tendency to corrup- 
tion in the legislative branch of the Government. 

The fraud and peculation exposed in the celebrated 
" Gardiner claim " aroused in Mr. Johnson the most in- 
tense indignation. His speech on the subject is marked 
with the eloquence of indignant wrath, and reminds the 
reader of those forensic displays of the old Roman orators, 
in which they exposed the peculations and abuses of their 
times, which followed in the wake of the conquest of 
Roman arms. It is probably known to the reader that 
Gardiner was an itinerant adventurer in Mexico, a man 
of great shrewdness and energy, who preferred a claim 
against the Mexican Government for $500,000, under the 
treaty of 1831 with that Government. By the treaty of 
peace with Mexico in 1848, our Government reserved 
$3,250,000 of the $15,000,000 to be paid to Mexico, for 
the payment of the claims of our citizens against Mexico 
under the treaty of 1831, and a commission was ap- 
pointed to adjudicate the claims. Under this claim the 
commission awarded to Gardiner $427,000. It leaked 
out, after a while, that this claim was improperly allowed, 
having no merits to sustain it. Mr. Johnson thus boldly 
and fearlessly denounced it in the House of Representa- 
tives in January, 1853 : 

" One thing has been ascertained since this claim was al- 
lowed, and that is, that it is a fraudulent one, based only on 
perjury and forgery. We know that perjury and forgery were 
the means by and through which the amount of money I have 
specified as being awarded to Dr. Gardiner was taken out of the 
Treasury. This fact no one will controvert. The committee 



90 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

were unanimous in the opinion that it was a naked fraud upon 
the Treasury." 

Many hard things were said, and many severe censures 
indulged, against the two distinguished men who were 
Gardiner's counsel in the prosecution of the claim, and 
who were understood to have received very heavy contin- 
gent fees. The subject had been referred to a committee, 
that reported a bill " to prevent frauds on the Treasury of 
the United States." In the debate on this bill, Mr. John- 
son refused to be drawn into the discussion of the culpa- 
bility of the counsel— as to whether they were, or were 
not, cognizant of its being a fraud on the Treasury. The 
position he assumed and maintained with great earnest- 
ness and ability — the stand-point of his argument — was 
this : that the connection of high functionaries of the Gov- 
ernment with the prosecution of such claims involved an 
impropriety, according to his views, of political morality. 
Consequently, he was in favor of passing the law, so as to 
stamp such conduct with the disapprobation of the Gov- 
ernment legally. He thus exposes the inconsistency of 
those who contended there was no impropriety on the 
part of the counsel who urged this claim before the com- 
mission, and who yet expressed an intention to vote for the 
bill to prevent such frauds on the Treasury in the future : 

" Those who vote for this hill thereby admit that this thing 
should he made an offence legally, as it is morally ; proceeding 
on the idea, that to have any thing like a perfect system of juris- 
prudence, law must he the perfection of reason — and, I will add, 
of sound morals also. The morals must precede the law, and the 
law should be made to sustain the morals. If it is not morally 
wrong to do this thing, I say it is wrong to pass a law making it 
a legal offence. If it is morally wrong, pass the law, and make it 
legally wrong. If it is not morally wrong, pass no such law ; for 
if you do, you make law and morals antagonists ; you have them 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 91 

running counter to each, other. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 

Barrere) seems willing to justify Mr. 's connection with the 

claim morally, yet he is willing to make it an offence legally. I 
cannot reconcile that sort of argument. It reminds me of a posi- 
tion assumed at one period of time by Professor Hoffman. He 
wrote as long ago as 1598 — just two hundred years before the 
passage of the Virginia resolutions — that philosophy was the 
mortal enemy of religion ; and that truth was divisible into two 
branches, one philosophical and the other theological ; and that 
what was true in philosophy was false in theology, and vice versd. 
The gentleman from Ohio seems to assume the same position as 
to the antagonism between law and morals. It seems to me that 
morals should constitute the basis of all law. 

" I cannot conclude without making an earnest appeal to the 
House to come forward and sustain this bill, as one step toward 
arresting and condemning the system of high-handed plundering 
and swindling which has been and is being carried on about 
Congress and the various departments of Government. Sound 
morality, common honesty, justice, an eviscerated Treasury — all 
demand that something should be done to separate these vam- 
pires from the body politic. There must be something done to 
restore public confidence ; for it is going very fast, if not already 
gone. The Government, and the functionaries of Government, 
are beginning to be offensive in the very nostrils of the nation ; 
many of the parts are already decayed, whilst the disease is work- 
ing its way into others less accessible. The putrid stench is sent 
forth on every wind, and is arresting the attention of the vora- 
cious vultures throughout the land. They have gathered and are 
still gathering around the carcass, ready to begin their foul work : 

" They come from the mountain-tops ; with hideous cry 
And clattering wings, the filthy harpies fly ; 
Monsters more fierce offended Heaven ne'er sent 
From hell's abyss for human punishment." 

As a mere question of dialectics, it is a matter of but 
little moment whether Mr. Johnson's views as to the in- 
separable dependence between law and morals be logically 



92 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

true to the extent laid down by him or not. But so far as 
regards practical results, his views are, at this time, of most 
significant importance. They prove that he contends for, 
and will maintain to the extent of his power, the highest 
standard of purity, integrity, and responsibility, on the 
part of all functionaries of the Government. It is well 
known that of late years very queer notions of political 
morality have been making progress in the public mind. 
The hackneyed and false adage — that " all is fair in poli- 
tics " — though often quoted in derision, has yet, to a cer- 
tain extent, taken root in official soil. There are many 
things which, if done in a political character, are toler- 
ated, if not approved, yet which would be condemned as 
morally wrong if done in a private relation of life. The 
country may congratulate itself that such is not Mr. John- 
son's opinion. His record upon that point is beyond cavil 
or doubt. Upon no subject has he exhibited more indig- 
nation, more uncompromising hostility, than that of the 
perversion of official power and influence to the advance- 
ment of private interests. 

There is a striking trait of character which Mr. John- 
son exhibited throughout his whole legislative life — that is, 
his watchful vigilance over the Treasury — his uniforrn op- 
position to all extravagance in the expenditure of the 
public money — his earnest advocacy of economy and re- 
trenchment where practicable in the administration of the 
Government. Hence it is he was generally found oppos- 
ing the various devices resorted to, session after session, for 
obtaining heavy appropriations, either under the pretext 
of claims upon the Government or of the temporary re- 
quirements of the public service. Propositions for increase 
of clerical force in the departments — for erecting gorgeous 
additions to the public buildings — for the purchase, at un- 
reasonable prices, of the manuscript papers of distinguish- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 93 

ed men, found but little favor with him. These things 
are referred to here, not because of their intrinsic import- 
ance, for they are matters on which the most conscien- 
tious men might reasonably differ in opinion, but they are 
alluded to by way of showing the bias and tenor of Mr. 
Johnson's character in regard to the true purposes of free 
government — that the useful, and not the imposing, is 
the proper policy. A thorough examination of his public 
life will show that he was not governed by any niggard 
parsimony. Where the great vital interests of the public 
required it, no man was more liberal in voting money 
from the Treasury. But on any and all questions, whether 
in the appropriation of money or any other legislation 
affecting any class or interest, he was as true as the needle 
to the pole in his regard for the rights and interests of the 
laboring-man. Hence, on a proposition offered in the 
Thirty-second Congress to increase the pay of the em- 
ployes in the legislative and executive departments of 
the Government, in the city of Washington, from ten to 
twenty per cent., Mr. Johnson moved as an amendment : 

" That twenty per cent, be added to the per diem or monthly 
pay now received by all employes of the Government who are 
engaged in any branch of mechanics or at common labor." 

Mr. Johnson said : 

" We have had various amendments offered here with the view 
of increasing the salaries and pay of everybody connected with 
the Government, save the man that labors and produces. The 
man who wears the dinge of the shop or the dust of the field 
upon his garments seems to be but little thought of or cared for in 
this House, except on occasions when the Government needs 
taxes. When the Government needs men to fight its battles, then 
it calls on this class of persons ; but when money is to be voted 
out of the Treasury, without stint or measure, then they are but 
little regarded. I should like to know why the men that work in 



94: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

your navy yards, and forge your anchors, and build your ships — 
men who wield the broad-axe, chisel, and hammer, not only five 
hours in the day, but ten hours, at one dollar and fifty cents to two 
dollars per day — should not have twenty per cent, added to their 
wao-es also. They have not the time, after working ten hours a 
day — like others who are not employed five — to visit this hall 
and besiege members of Congress with importunities to increase 
their pay. They have to work, almost from the rising to the 
going down of the sun, whilst others in the employment of the 
Government get much larger wages, although their expenses of 
living are not more than those who labor in your workshops. Go, 
for instance, to your armory. Who proposes to increase the pay 
of the men who are engaged in preparing the implements of war 
to defend your country in its hour of need ? When provisions 
rise, when bread and meat advance in price, and it is almost im- 
possible for the mechanic to support his family, do we hear these 
eloquent appeals in behalf of him, his wife and children ? " 

During the long political controversy on the subject of 
the tariff which agitated the country whilst Mr. Johnson 
was in Congress, he was the uniform opponent of the high 
protective policy, through a system of discriminating 
duties, where such discrimination was made with an espe- 
cial view to protection. The reader, to enable himself to 
understand the true source, the real groundwork, of his 
objection to the high protective policy, must read his 
speeches on the subject. These show that his opposition 
arose from no sectional prejudices or narrow-minded views 
in regard to any branch of industry. It had its origin in 
the vigilant jealousy of his nature of every thing tending 
to monopolies ; of all legislation looking to special benefits 
for any peculiar class ; of all efforts to advance the inter- 
ests of the few in disregard of the welfare of the many. 
Mr. Johnson seems to have been governed, in his public 
life, by a political philosophy, so to speak, which has 
shaped and directed his course upon all questions. This 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 95 

political philosophy is based on the idea that our Govern- 
ment and institutions were made by the people, to be ad- 
ministered by the people, and for the common good and 
general welfare of the people ; that these institutions, in 
their recognition of the principle of equality, and in ex- 
tending to all equal advantages and privileges in the great 
race of advancement to station, wealth, honor, and reputa- 
tion, had done enough for industry, energy, enterprise, 
morality, and worth, in common, without departing from 
their constitutional mission in conferring special favors on 
any special pursuit or any particular section. Here, then, 
was the cause of his dislike of special protection to special in- 
terests or sections. Being a mechanic himself, and accus- 
tomed to labor from his boyhood, he could not but look 
favorably on the manufacturing establishments, which are 
great hives of industry and mechanical labor. Being re- 
markable for his pride of country, in comparison with 
other countries, he was naturally disposed to look favorably 
on any industrial enterprise that promised to make his 
country independent of others in procuring a supply of the 
necessaries of life. Whilst, therefore, he did not object to, 
but the rather rejoiced at, any aid which manufacturing 
industry might receive incidentally from the imposition of 
duties necessary to support the Government, yet he never 
could allow his views of special benefit to prevail over his 
conviction of duty to the general good. 

This question of a protective tariff is not likely to agi- 
tate the public mind in this country again, in our day at 
least. And Mr. Johnson's position is referred to here, 
first, because it is necessary to an explanation of his politi- 
cal course, and, in the second place, it is due to him, and 
to the cause of truth, that any attempt that may be made 
to misrepresent or prejudice him in the public mind, shall 
be met and exposed by a statement of facts. To succeed 



96 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

in any attempt to misrepresent Mr. Johnson, is to impair 
his usefulness. To impair his usefulness, at this important 
juncture of our affairs, is to strike a blow at the country. 

In giving extracts from Mr. Johnson's speeches in Con- 
gress, the author has not selected those passages which ex- 
hibit most intellectual ability and argumentative power. 
To judge of the intellect, the oratorical talent, and logical 
force of a speech, the whole speech should be read. In 
order to enable the reader to get a proper conception of 
Mr. Johnson's powers as a parliamentary debater, an addi- 
tional volume or volumes would be necessary to contain 
his most important speeches. The object of the author in 
this volume is to present to the reading public that infor- 
mation, now eagerly sought for, that will enable them to 
judge correctly of Mr. Johnson's views and settled opinions 
as to the nature and theory of our Government, the proper 
policy to be pursued in its administration, the philosophi- 
cal principles that underlie our free institutions, and the 
great national mission we have, as a people, to accomplish. 
The author's purpose is to afford instruction concerning 
Mr. Johnson, that the people of the country may know 
him as he is; that they may judge him fairly and im- 
partially. 

In these extracts from his speeches the author has also 
had an eye to what may give the reader an insight into his 
private character, his sentiments and feelings, as a private 
man. The author is not one of those who believe that 
talent howsoever great, intellect howsoever profound, learn- 
ing howsoever deep, alone constitute fitness for high station. 
Great and necessary as these qualities are, yet, without 
the virtues of the heart, unless accompanied with high 
moral virtues, they are what the Apostle describes faith to 
be when unaccompanied by charity : they are as " sound- 
ing brass and a tinkling cymbal." Whether Pope was 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 



97 



correct in applying the illustration to that great man, Lord 
Bacon, or not, yet history teaches ns that it is not impossi- 
ble to see the same individual take rank among — 

"The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind." 

Mr. Johnson's speeches show forth the qualities of his 
heart as strikingly as they do those of his head. There is 
an open-hearted candor and freedom from all prevarication 
as to his views, which denote political honesty and truth- 
fulness without mistake. No one can read his productions 
without seeing that he possesses that rare virtue, gratitude. 
Whenever he alludes to the people who have honored and 
elevated him, his language evidently comes swelling up 
from a heart full of feeling and thankfulness. His sympa- 
thy for suffering — for honest poverty — for struggling ad- 
versity — as evinced in his speeches, state papers, etc., is 
unmistakable. Whenever he alludes to such subjects, his 
language is free from all studied ornament, but gushes 
forth in a full tide of feeling. His allusions to " home " — 
to the quiet domestic joys of private life — plainly show 
that he appreciates, to their utmost extent, the duties en- 
joined by the domestic relations, and that lie regards true 
enjoyment and happiness only to be found around the 
family hearth-stone. His devotion to tried and trusted 
friends proves beyond controversy the sincerity and fidel- 
ity of his nature. It is doubtful whether there has been 
any great man in our political history, whose character 
and opinions, intellectually, morally, and socially, can be 
more fairly and correctly judged of by a stranger who 
knew nothing of him before, than those of Andrew John- 
son may be by a perusal of his productions. When he 
speaks or writes on any subject, he leaves no doubt what^ 
ever as to what his position is. 

Mr. Johnson's great favorite measure, the " Homestead 
5 



98 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Bill," did not finally become the law of the land till May, 
1862, a short time after he had left his seat in the Senate 
to enter upon the duties of Military Governor of Ten- 
nessee. The historical fact cannot be lost sight of, that 
Andrew Johnson was the author and father of this great 
public boon. In every pioneer cabin throughout our vast 
Western domain the name of Andrew Johnson will be 
spoken of with gratitude and affection for a century to 
come. Thousands, who might have otherwise been house- 
less and homeless, will talk to their children of the man 
who for fifteen long years labored to secure a home to the 
poor and the unfortunate. Thousands, who might other- 
wise have been left to the evils of vagrancy and dissipa- 
tion in our cities and towns, will bless the name of him 
who opened the way for them to a home of plenty and 
comfort in the far distant West. The impulse given to 
emigration and settlement by this beneficent measure will 
rapidly people our vast empire territory. Churches, acad- 
emies, and court-houses will speedily, as if by magic, make 
their appearance, where, but for the zeal and perseverance 
of Andrew Johnson, the buffalo would have roamed, and 
the Indian pursued his game for a generation to come. 
Kivers will soon waft the echo of a thousand whistling 
engines, where, but for Andrew Johnson's labors, the 
solitude of nature would have remained undisturbed, save 
by the scream of water-fowl, or the growl of the panther. 
The mansions of comfort, elegance, and hospitality, will 
soon open their doors to the wayfarer, where, but for 
Andrew Johnson's benevolence, he would have been shel- 
terless against the inclemency of the weather and the sky. 
" The cattle of a thousand hills " will soon be browsing on 
green pastures, where, but for Andrew Johnson, the foot- 
prints of a domestic animal would have been unseen for 
many a long year. 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 99 

Thousands upon thousands of children and children's 
children, for centuries will bless the name of the man to 
whom they are indebted for their lots being cast in that 
land of plenty and beauty which stretches far, far away 
to the base of the Kocky Mountains, and up their lovely 
valleys and defiles to where the eagle that is perched in 
view may take a look either down on the eastern plains, 
or on the streams that flow on the west to the bosom of 
the Pacific. In contemplating the time when that im- 
mense domain, extending from Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, 
and the Indian Territory, to the Pacific, shall be inhabited 
by forty or fifty millions of population, the mind is lost in 
wonder and admiration. The history of this people will 
commence with the Homestead Law of Andrew Johnson. 
He unlocked and opened wide the gate through which the 
pioneer and the emigrant commenced their journey west- 
ward in search of a home. Lift the curtain that con- 
ceals the future, and contemplate the scene fifty years 
hence. Behold a thousand granclsires under their cottage 
verandas on a Sabbath evening, reading to the numerous 
family offspring from the old family Bible, with comfort 
and contentment smiling around, and then relating to them 
that they owe their blessings (under the Providence of God) 
to the benevolent forecast and labors of Andrew Johnson, 
who lived on the east of the great Father of Waters, when 
they— the narrators — were young men, poor, and without 
a home. 

In thousands of school-houses the pupils will read from 
primary books how the settlement and improvement of 
that country has converted a wilderness into comfortable 
and happy homes, owing to the philanthropy and perse- 
verance of Andrew Johnson, whose name should be cher- 
ished by them as a pattern for their imitation. In a thou- 
sand churches the ministers of God, in detailing to their 

L.efC. 



100 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

hearers the blessings for which they should feel grateful, 
will refer to Andrew Johnson as the instrument through 
whom Almighty goodness has vouchsafed to them that 
great inheritance of prosperity and happiness. There will, 
in the far distant West, for ages to come — 

" Each running stream, each flowing river, 
Roll mingled with his name forever." 

Mr. Johnson's decided opposition to the "Know- 
Nothing " or " American " movement has been before al- 
luded to. It is not the purpose of the author of this 
memoir to discuss the merits of the question of " Ameri- 
canism." It had its day, and has disappeared, in all 
probability, forever. It was one of those questions on 
which patriotic and good men might well differ honestly, 
according to the stand-point from which they viewed it. 
Mr. Johnson's speeches on the subject bear the impress of 
earnest and conscientious opposition to the movement. He 
regarded the tide of foreign emigration to our country as 
one of the great elements of our national power and pros- 
perity. He considered it the true policy, on the part of 
the American people, to foster this emigration rather than 
to discourage it. Hence he considered any course calcu- 
lated to retard the speedy absorption of the emigrant ele- 
ment into the body politic as calculated to arrest our 
national progress. There were very few foreigners and 
Roman Catholics in the mountain region of East Ten- 
nessee. This affords the strongest evidence of Mr. John- 
son's honesty and sincerity. He could not be accused of 
pandering to any feeling in favor of foreigners and Ro- 
man Catholics in order to obtain votes. In a speech he 
delivered at Greenville, Tenn., in 1851, in reply to his 
competitor, L. C. Haynes, the last time he was a candidate 
for the House of Representatives of the United States 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 101 

Congress, he used the following eloquent language in ref- 
erence to foreigners : 

" When looking across the water to the starving, oppressed, 
and down-trodden condition of the inhabitants of the Emerald 
Isle, it is not in rny nature, when the poor Irishman leaves his own 
country and seeks this as the home of the oppressed and the asylum 
of the exile, to meet him on the sea-shore and forbid his entrance. 
When I look across to Germany, I see the population is dense, 
subsistence dear, money scarce, and wages for labor low. If the 
German, on comparing the nature and character of his own Gov- 
ernment with ours, should determine to take his wife and children 
and embark in some ship bound for our ports, and after many 
weeks of peril, anxiety, and contest with the waves of the ocean, 
he succeeds in reaching our shore, who, that claims to be an 
American, would meet him there and bid him stay away, with up- 
braidings that he was a foreigner? In such case I imagine I 
can see the honest German pause, and draw from his pocket a 
small volume, written by Weems, giving an account of the inci- 
dents of the Revolution. I think I can see him turning to that 
page, describing the battle of Camden, in which the brave old 
German De Kalb fought, receiving eleven wounds, and testing his 
devotion to freedom by offering up his life in its cause. I think I 
see him point to the grave which contains the hero's bones, 
and then, in an emphatic manner, ask if he might not be per- 
mitted to enjoy a country beneath whose soil the brave and noble 
De Kalb sleeps in peace. Suppose I look to France — versatile 
and revolutionary France — whose history, since 1792, has been 
one of revolution and blood. I there see a sensitive and animated 
Frenchman whose very soul longs for liberty, and whose every im- 
pulse is that of chivalry — I see him becoming sick of his own 
ever-changing France, looking up to the flag of his own country 
and meditating upon the institutions of his native land — then 
stretching his vision across the water, fixing it upon our own glo- 
rious Stars and Stripes — then contemplating and analyzing our 
beautiful and complex form of government — and finally resolving 
to cast his destiny in our midst. The tempest and the wave are 



102 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

at length overcome, and he finds himself moored in an American 
harbor. I ask if there is a man in this assembly, who has a spark 
of patriotism abiding in his bosom, or one impulse of philanthropy 
in his heart, that would meet him at the shore and bid him re- 
turn to his native land. Would my competitor, in all the fury 
and zeal of his opposition to foreigners, meet him on the beach, 
sword in hand, to drive him back into the waves, and merely be- 
cause he was a foreigner ? I think I can see the poor Frenchman 
sternly looking my competitor in the face and exclaiming, Stay thy 
hand ; suspend the blow ; then opening the history of the Revolu- 
tion, pointing to the page describing the battle of Brandywine, in 
which his countryman Lafayette was wounded ; then to the sur- 
render of Cornwallis at Yorktown which brought peace and inde- 
pendence : I think I can hear the Frenchman asking, in the name 
of freedom and of Lafayette's sacrifices, if he could not be per- 
mitted to enter the country and live beneath the protecting 
branches of the tree of liberty, planted by Washington, and 
watered with Lafayette's blood. For myself, I can say it is not in 
my nature to drive him from our shore ; but I would say to him, 
Come and be our brother; take up your abode with us under the 
tree of liberty and be happy, worshipping Almighty God accord- 
ing to the dictates of your own conscience." 

Mr. Johnson was equally decided in his opposition to 
that feature in the " American " organization by which its 
members bound themselves not to vote for Roman Catho- 
lics for any political station. He has always considered 
religious freedom as the twin-sister of civil liberty, and 
never would tolerate any thing that he thought was likely 
to compromise or impair either. This subject was inciden- 
tally introduced in a debate in the Twenty-eighth Con- 
gress. Mr. Johnson, in alluding to it, said : 

" I do not appear here to defend the Roman Catholic religion. 
There are but few Catholics in my region, and there are prejudices 
existing against them. But I protest against the doctrine here ad- 
vanced by the gentleman from North Carolina. The Catholics of 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 103 

this country are entitled to the full exercise of all the rights se- 
cured to them by the Constitution of the United States — that of 
worshipping God in the manner dictated by their own consciences. 
They, in common with all other denominations of Christians, 
have the right to sit under their own vines and fig-trees, and no 
one can rightfully interfere with them. This country is not pre- 
pared to establish an inquisition to try and punish men for their 
religious beliefs ; and those who assail any religious sect in this 
country will find a majority of the people arrayed against them. 
I desire to know of the gentleman from North Carolina what he 
meant by the use of the language I have just read from his 
speech. Does he mean that there is to be a spirit of persecution 
aroused in this country which is to sweep away any one of the re- 
ligious denominations that now prevail among us ? Are the ten 
thousand temples that have been erected, based upon the sufferings 
and atonement of a crucified Saviour, with their glittering spires 
wasting themselves in the heavens, all to topple and fall, crushed 
and buried beneath the storms and ravages of a party excitement ? 
Is man to be set upon man, and, in the name of God, to lift his 
hand against the throat of his fellow ? Is the land that gave a 
brother birth to be watered with a brother's blood ? Are the 
bloodhounds of persecution and proscription to be let loose upon 
foreigners and Catholics because of their party affiliations in the 
late contest ? " 

The author of this memoir repeats — it is not his pur- 
pose to discuss the tenets and doctrines of the " American " 
movement, which swept over the country like an avalanche 
in 1853-'54. The object of the author is to show that Mr. 
Johnson was honest and conscientious in his course. He 
met the issue with that boldness and manliness for which 
he is remarkable ; and Tennessee was the first Whig State 
where the tide in favor of " Americanism " was arrested 
and rolled backward. No work, claiming to be a biogra- 
phy of Mr. Johnson, could consistently ignore his course 
on this question. If an effort is to be made by faction to 



104 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

destroy his usefulness, and to thwart him in his great effort 
to restore peace and concord to a distracted country ; if he 
finds himself compelled to appeal to the conservatism, the 
nationality, and patriotism of the people, against the wiles 
and machinations of politicians ; it is right and proper that 
the foreign and Roman Catholic element of our popula- 
tion should know who stood forward as their friend and 
defender, when to do so involved the hazard of political 
destruction. 

It is due to the cause of truth and justice to say, how- 
ever, that there was one element in the " American party " 
which might, and probably would have, to some extent 
moderated Mr. Johnson's opposition to it, if he had been 
more thoroughly informed as to its principles and objects. 
But it was a secret organization, and the element referred 
to was not incorporated into it until some considerable time 
after its inauguration and after it had gained some of its 
most important triumphs in local elections. We refer to 
the third or " Union degree," as it was called. According 
to the ritual of the Order, there were originally but two de- 
grees in it — one designed for the purification of the ballot- 
box, the other to check corruption in the dispensing of 
Government patronage and the appointments to office. 
When this " American party " met in " General Grand 
Council " at Cincinnati, in 1854, another degree was added 
to the organization, called the " Union degree." Its author 
and originator was Hon. Kenneth Rayner, of North Caro- 
lina. He introduced it, sustained it zealously by argu- 
ment, and successfully carried it through. He insisted 
that the growing sentiment of disunion threatened more 
of danger to the country than all the other evils which it 
was the object of the Order to guard against, and that it 
was his object to erect a barrier to the further progress of 
this dangerous heresy both North and South. 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 105 

As a compliment to Mr. Rayner, he was selected by the 
Coimcil to confer this degree on the members composing it. 
And then and there he did confer it. So that, as stated 
by Mr. Eayner in his lately published letter to Dr. Elder, 
he is, no donbt, the first man in this country who ever ad- 
ministered an oath to any one binding the recipient to main- 
tain and defend the Union against all assaults from any and 
every quarter under the same pledge given by our fathers 
in support of the Declaration of Independence — that of 
"life, fortune, and sacred honor." 

On motion of the author of this degree, it was declared 
and ordained that the organization should be known and 
recognized by its members as the " Order of the American 
Union." With the outside world they went by the name 
of " Know-Nothings." This oath, to maintain and defend 
the Union, was taken by more than a million of men. 

The next year, 1855, the General Grand Council met 
in Philadelphia. But the serpent of slavery agitation had 
crept within its folds and demoralized it. Violent and 
extreme men were there from the North, resolved to convert 
the Order into an antislavery party. Violent and extreme 
men from the South were there, resolved to convert it into 
a slavery-propagandist party. The sessions of the Council 
were daily marked with scenes of turbulence, strife, and 
disorder. Mr. Rayner, and those who concurred with him, 
resisted, with all the might and power they possessed, the 
interpolation on the Order of any thing touching slavery, 
either jpro or con. He begged and entreated his Southern 
brethren to avoid all allusion to the question of slavery. 
He warned them that the incorporation of a proslavery 
plank in their platform would result in the dsstruction of 
the American Order — that the continued agitation of the 
subject would ultimately destroy slavery, and in all proba- 
bility the Union also, which they had sworn to sustain. 



106 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

But all in vain. The proslavery element succeeded in 
passing a provision in regard to the protection of slavery 
in the territories. A large portion of the Northern mem- 
bers seceded from the Council, and from that time the days 
of the " American party " were numbered. They made a 
dying struggle in the effort to elect Mr. Fillmore to the 
Presidency, in 1856, with the aid of the remnant of the 
old Whig party, but it ended in failure. The Order abol- 
ished all secrecy in its operations, released all its members 
from their obligations according to the conditions of their 
initiation— that every one entering the Order should be hon- 
orably discharged therefrom whenever he might conscien- 
tiously ask for it — and thus the American party ceased to 
exist. It may be that Mr. Johnson was not thoroughly 
informed of the strong Union element in the American 
Order, or, if he was, he probably thought that the other 
provisions of it were fraught with mischief and evil far 
outweighing the benefits promised by the Union feature re- 
ferred to. One thing is certain : he was sincere, honest, 
and patriotic in his opposition to the " American " organi- 
zation. ISTo one who ever heard him discuss the question 
could doubt for a moment his earnest and abiding convic- 
tion that it was, in the main, likely to entail evils on the 
country, and that it was his duty to resist its further 
progress. 

In speaking of Mr. Johnson's relations and opposition 
to the American party as a part of his past political 
history, the author felt it due to the many noble and pa- 
triotic men throughout the country who were members of 
that party, to say what is here said. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Schemes of Mischief culminating in 1860— Democratic Convention at Charles- 
ton—Split of the Democratic Party— Nomination and Election of Mr. 
Lincoln— Course of Mr. Johnson— Appeals to his Southern Brethren- 
Speech on the constitutional relations between the States and the 
General Government— Earnestness of Mr. Johnson's Views and his 
Anxiety to save the Union— Extracts from his Speech. 

In 1860, the elements of combustion which had been 
so long smouldering, began to kindle into a blaze. In this 
year culminated those schemes of mischief which had been 
brewing for thirty years. The conspiracy to destroy the 
Government and sever the Union, which had been care- 
fully but secretly nursed and fostered ever since 1831, now 
showed its brazen front, and in defiant tones proclaimed 
its wicked and nefarious designs. The Democratic party, 
which had hitherto withstood the disruptive force of 
slavery agitation, now yielded to the pressure, and was split 
asunder. Their convention to nominate a candidate for 
the Presidency, which met in Charleston, S. C, after a 
week's bickering and discord, being unable to agree, 
adjourned to meet in Baltimore at a future day. During 
the interval, the conspirators plied their work with zeal, 
and on the reassembling at Baltimore, all they did was to 
consummate the breach, and render it irreparable. The 
Democratic party was split into two factions, one nomina- 
ting Douglas, the other nominating Breckinridge. The 



108 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Republican party, which had been suddenly improvised 
only four years before, by an outburst of public opinion 
throughout the North, in consequence of the repeal of 
the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas outrage, and the 
Dred Scott decision, nominated Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln 
was elected by a plurality vote. The plans of the con- 
spirators had thus far worked according to their wishes. 
They had labored for a pretext for dissolving the Union, 
and they now seized on that pretext, and urged it in 
justification of their course. South Carolina passed the 
ordinance of secession in December, without her mem- 
bers of Congress going on to Washington to take their 
seats. The States further south followed in quick suc- 
cession. From time to time the Senators from the 
Southern States took formal leave of the Senate, on going 
home to aid the work of disunion, of war, and of blood. 
Andrew Johnson saw what was coming. He saw that 
Union which he loved so well, and to which he had 
declared his purpose to adhere to the end, was in danger 
of destruction, and with it the hopes of freedom through- 
out the world. He saw a people, bound together by so 
many endearing ties and associations, about to engage in 
deadly conflict. No one was misled or deceived as to his 
course. He had from the outset declared his determination 
never to enter on the wild crusade of secession and dis- 
union. He concluded to make an appeal to his Southern 
brethren, and to expose the fallacy and absurdity of seces- 
sion. He spoke for two days, on the 18th and 19th of 
December, 1860. In his speech delivered on that occasion, 
he went into an historical review of the constitutional rela- 
tions between the States and the General Government, and 
exhibited a research and information in regard to our 
political history not surpassed by any man of his day. It 
is one of those speeches of ability, eloquence, and philo- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 109 

sophical argument that will, for years to come, constitute a 
text-book for the political student. It is a pity to mutilate 
the speech, by giving extracts from it only, but the limits 
of this memoir will not admit of giving it entire. The 
object in giving the copious quotations here inserted is, to 
enable the reader to appreciate the deep sincerity, earnest- 
ness, and conviction of Mr. Johnson in the entertainment 
of his views, and his anxiety to save the Union and avoid 
bloodshed, if possible. He said : 

" I know that the inquiry may be made, How is a State to have 
redress ? There is but one way, and that is expressed by the peo- 
ple of Tennessee. You have entered into this compact ; it was 
mutual ; it was reciprocal ; and you of your own volition have no 
right to withdraw and break the contract without the consent of 
the other parties. What remedy, then, has the State ? It has a 
remedy that remains and abides with every people upon the face 
of the earth : when grievances are without a remedy, or without 
redress, when oppression becomes intolerable, they have the great 
inherent right of revolution, and that is all there is of it. 

" Sir, if this doctrine of secession is to be carried out upon 
the mere whim of a State, this Government is at an end. I am 
as much opposed to a strong, or what may be called by some a 
consolidated Government, as it is possible for a man to be ; but 
while I am greatly opposed to that, I want a Government strong 
enough to preserve its own existence ; that will not fall to pieces 
by its own weight, or whenever a little dissatisfaction takes place 
in one of its members. If the States have the right to secede at 
will and pleasure, for real or imaginary evils or oppressions, I re- 
peat again, this Government is at an end ; it is not stronger than 
a rope of sand ; its own weight will tumble it to pieces, and it 
cannot exist. Notwithstanding this doctrine may suit some who 
are engaged in this perilous and impending crisis that is now upon 
us, duty to my country, duty to my State, and duty to my kind, 
require me to avow a doctrine that I believe will result in the pres- 
ervation of the Government, and to repudiate one that I believe 



110 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

will result in its overthrow, and the consequent disasters to the 
people of the United States. 

" If a State can secede at will and pleasure, and this doctrine 
is maintained, why, I ask, on the other hand, and as Mr. Madison 
argues in one of his letters, cannot a majority of the States com- 
bine and reject a State out of the Confederacy ? Have a majority 
of these States, under the compact that they have made with each 
other, the right to combine and reject any one of the States from 
the Confederacy ? They have no such right ; the compact is re- 
ciprocal. It was ratified without reservation or condition, and it 
was ratified ' in toto and forever ; ' such is the language of James 
Madison ; and there is but one way to get out of it without the 
consent of the parties, and that is by revolution. 

" I know that some touch the subject with trembling and fear. 
They say, Here is a State that, perhaps by this time, has seceded, or 
if not, she is on the road to secession, and w T e must touch this 
subject very delicately ; and that if the State secedes, conceding 
the power of the Constitution to her to secede, you must talk very 
delicately upon the subject of coercion. I do not believe the Fed- 
eral Government has the power to coerce a State ; for by the 
eleventh amendment of the Constitution of the United States it is 
expressly provided that you cannot even put one of the States of 
this Confederacy before one of the courts of the country as a 
party. As a State, the Federal Government has no power to 
coerce it ; but it is a member of the compact to which it agreed 
in common with the other States, and this Government has the 
right to pass laws and to enforce those laws upon individuals 
within the limits of each State. While the one proposition is 
clear, the other is equally so. This Government can, by the Con- 
stitution of the country and by the laws enacted in conformity 
with the Constitution, operate upon individuals, and has the right 
and the power, not to coerce a State, but to enforce and execute 
the law upon individuals within the limits of a State. 

" I know that the term, ' to coerce a State,' is used in an ad 
captandum manner. It is a sovereignty that is to be crushed ! 
How is a State in the Union ? What is her connection with it ? 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. Ill 

All the connection she has with the other States is that which is 
agreed upon in the compact between the States. I do not know 
whether you may consider it in the Union or out of the Union, 
or whether you simply consider it a connection or a disconnection 
with the other States ; but to the extent that a State nullifies or 
sets aside any law or any provision of the Constitution, to that ex- 
tent it has dissolved its connection, and no more. 

" I do not think it necessary, in order to preserve this Union, 
or to keep a State within its sphere, that the Congress of the 
United States should have the power to coerce a State. All that 
is necessary is for the Government to have the power to execute 
and to carry out all the powers conferred upon it by the Constitu- 
tion, whether they apply to the State or otherwise. This, I think, 
the Government clearly has the power to do ; and so long as the 
Government executes all the laws in good faith, denying the right 
of a State constitutionally to secede, so long the State is in the 
Union and subject to all the provisions of the Constitution and 
the laws passed in conformity with it. For example : the power 
is conferred on the Federal Government to carry the mails through 
the several States ; to establish post-offices and post-roads ; the 
power is conferred on the Federal Government to establish courts 
in the respective States ; the power is conferred on the General 
Government to lay and collect taxes in the several States, and so 
on. The various powers are enumerated, and each and every one 
of these powers the Federal Government has the constitutional 
authority to execute within the limits of the States. It is not an 
invasion of a State for the Federal Government to execute its 
laws, to take care of its public property, and to enforce the collec- 
tion of its revenue ; but if, in the execution of the laws, if, in the 
enforcement of the Constitution, it meets with resistance, it is the 
duty of the Government, and it has the authority, to put down 
resistance, and effectually to execute the laws as contemplated by 
the Constitution of the country. If it were not even expressed in 
the Constitution, the power to preserve itself and maintain its au- 
thority would be possessed by the Federal Government from the 
very existence of the Government itself, upon the great principle 



112 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

that it must have the power to preserve its own existence. But 
we find that, in plain and express terms, this authority is delegated. 
The very powers that Mr. Jefferson pointed out as being wanting 
in the old Government, under the Articles of Confederation, are 
granted by the Constitution of the United States to the present 
Government by express delegation. Congress has the power to 
lay and collect taxes ; Congress has the power to pass laws to re- 
store fugitives from labor escaping from one State into another ; 
Congress has the power to establish post-offices and post-roads ; 
Congress has the power to establish courts in the different States ; 
and having these powers, it has the authority to do every thing 
necessary to sustain the collection of the revenue, the enforcement 
of the judicial system, and the carrying of the mails. Because 
Congress, having the power, undertakes to execute its laws, it will 
not do to say that the Government is placed in the position of an 
aggressor. Not so. It is only acting within the scope of the 
Constitution, and in compliance with its delegated powers. But a 
State that resists the exercise of those powers becomes the ag- 
gressor, and places itself in a rebellious or nullifying attitude. It 
is the duty of this Government to execute its laws in good faith. 
When the Federal Government shall fail to execute all the laws 
that are made in strict conformity with the Constitution, if our 
sister States shall pass laws violative of that Constitution, and ob- 
structing the laws of Congress passed in conformity with it, then, 
and not till then, will this Government have failed to accomplish 
the great objects of its creation. Then it will be at an end, and 
all the parties to the compact will be released. 

" Having travelled thus far, the question arises, In what sense 
are we to construe the Constitution of the United States ? I as- 
sume, what is assumed in one of Mr. Madison's letters, that the 
Constitution was formed for perpetuity ; that it never was intended 
to be broken up. It was commenced, it is true, as an experi- 
ment; but the founders of the Constitution intended that this ex- 
periment should go on and on and on ; and by way of making it 
perpetual, they provided for its amendment. They provided that 
this instrument could be amended and improved, from time to 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 113 

time, as the changing circumstances, as the changing pursuits, as 
the changing notions of men might require ; but they made no 
provision whatever for its destruction. The old Articles of Con- 
federation were formed for the purpose of making ' a perpetual 
union.' In 1787, when the Convention concluded their delibera- 
tions and adopted the Constitution, what do they say in the very 
preamble of that Constitution ? Having in their mind the idea 
that was shadowed forth in the old Articles of Confederation, that 
the Union was to be perpetual, they say, at the commencement, 
that it is to make ' a more perfect union ' than the Union under 
the old Articles of Confederation, which they called ' perpetual.' 

"We find General Washington executing the law, in 1795, 
against a portion of the citizens of Pennsylvania who rebelled ; 
and, I repeat the question, where is the difference between execut- 
ing the law upon a part and upon the whole 2 Suppose the whole 
of Pennsylvania had rebelled and resisted the excise law ; had 
refused to pay taxes on distilleries : was it not as competent and 
as constitutional for General Washington to have executed the law 
against the whole as against a part ? Is there any difference ? 
Governmental affairs must be practical as well as our own domestic 
affairs. You may make nice metaphysical distinctions between 
the practical operations of Government and its theory ; you may 
refine upon what is a State, and point out a difference between a 
State and a portion of a State ; but what is it when you reduce it 
to practical operation and square it by common sense ? 

"In 1832 resistance was interposed to laws of the United 
States in another State. An ordinance was passed by South Caro- 
lina, assuming to act as a sovereign State, to nullify a law of the 
United States. In 1833 the distinguished man who filled the 
Executive chair, who now lies in his silent grave, loved and 
respected for his virtue, his honor, his integrity, his patriotism, his 
undoubted courage, and his devotion to his kind, with an eye 
single to the promotion of his country's best interests, issued the 
proclamation, extracts from which I have already presented. He 
was sworn to support the Constitution, and to see that the laws 
were faithfully executed ; and he fulfilled the obligation. He took 



114 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

all the steps necessary to secure the execution of the law, and he 
would have executed it by the power of the Government if the 
point of time had arrived when it was necessary to resort to 
power. 

" Have we no authority or power to execute the laws in the 
State of South Carolina as well as in Vermont and Pennsylvania ? 
I think we have. As I before said, although a State may, by an 
ordinance, or by a resolve, or by an act of any other kind, declare 
that they absolve their citizens from all allegiance to this Govern- 
ment, it does not release them from the compact. The compact 
is reciprocal ; and they, in coming into it, undertook to perform 
certain duties and abide by the laws made in conformity with the 
compact. Now, sir, what is the Government to do in South Car- 
olina ? If South Carolina undertake to drive the Federal courts 
out of that State, yet the Federal Government has the right to 
hold those courts there. She may attempt to exclude the mails, 
yet the Federal Government has the right to establish post-offices 
and post-roads, and to carry the mails there. She may resist the 
collection of revenue at Charleston, or any other point that the 
Government has provided for its collection ; but the Government 
has the right to collect it and to enforce the law. She may under- 
take to take possession of the property belonging to the Govern- 
ment which was originally ceded by the State, but the Federal 
Government has the right to provide the means for retaining pos- 
session of that property. If she makes an advance either to dis- 
possess the Government of that which it has purchased, or to 
resist the execution of the revenue laws, or of our judicial system, 
or the carrying of the mails, or the exercise of any other power 
conferred on the Federal Government, she puts herself in the 
wrong, and it will be the duty of the Government to see that the 
laws are faithfully executed. 

" But it is declared and assumed that, if a State secedes, she is 
no longer a member of the Union, and that, therefore, the laws 
and the Constitution of the United States are no longer operative 
within her limits, and she is not guilty if she violates them. This 
is a matter of opinion. I have tried to show, from the origin of 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 115 

the Government down to the present time, what this doctrine of 
secession is, and there is but one concurring and unerring conclu- 
sion reached by all the great and distinguished men of the country. 
Madison, who is called the Father of the Constitution, denies the 
doctrine. Washington, who was the Father of his Country, 
denies the doctrine. Jefferson, Jackson, Clay, and Webster, all 
deny the doctrine ; and yet all at once it is discovered and ascer- 
tained that a State, of its own volition, can go out of this Confed- 
eracy without regard to consequences, without regard to the 
injury and woe that may be inflicted on the remaining members 
from the act ! 

" Suppose this doctrine to 1& true, Mr. President, that a State 
can withdraw from this Confederacy ; and suppose South Carolina 
has seceded, and is now out of the Confederacy : in what an atti- 
tude does she place herself? There might be circumstances under 
which the States ratifying the compact might tolerate the secession 
of a State, she taking the consequences of the act. But there 
might be other circumstances under which the States could not 
allow one to secede. Why do I say so ? Some suppose — and it 
is a well-founded supposition — that by the secession of a State all 
the remaining States might be involved in disastrous consequences ; 
they might be involved in war ; and by the secession of one State, 
the existence of the remaining States might be involved. Then, 
without regard to the Constitution, dare the other States permit 
one to secede when it endangers and involves all the remaining 
States? The question arises in this connection, whether the 
States are in a condition to tolerate or will tolerate the secession 
of South Carolina. That is a matter to be determined by the cir- 
cumstances ; that is a matter to be determined by the emergency; 
that is a matter to be determined when it comes up. It is a ques 
tion which, must be left open to be determined by the surrounding 
circumstances when the occasion arises. 

" But conceding, for argument' s sake, the doctrine of secession, 
and admitting that the State of South Carolina is now upon your 
coast a foreign power, absolved from all connection with the Fed- 
eral Government, out of the Union : what then ? There was a 



116 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

doctrine inculcated in 1823, by Mr. Monroe, that this Govern- 
ment, keeping in view the safety of the people and the existence 
of our institutions, would permit no European power to plant any 
more colonies on this continent. Now, suppose that South Caro- 
lina is outside of the Confederacy, and this Government is in pos- 
session of the fact that she is forming an alliance with a foreign 
p 0wer — w ith France, with England, with Russia, with Austria, or 
with all of the principal powers of Europe ; that there is to be a 
great naval station established there ; an immense rendezvous for 
their army, with a view to ulterior objects, with a view of making 
advances upon the rest of these States : let me ask the Senate, let 
me ask the country, if they dare permit it ? Under and in com- 
pliance with the great law of self-preservation, we dare not let her 
do it ; and if she were a sovereign power to-day, outside of the 
Confederacy, and was forming an alliance that we deemed inimical 
to our institutions and the existence of our Government, we 
should have a right to conquer and hold her as a province — a term 
which is so much used with scorn. 

" We are told that certain States will go out and tear this 
accursed Constitution into fragments, and drag the pillars of this 
mighty edifice down upon us, and involve us all in one common 
ruin. Will the border States submit to such a threat ? No. If 
they do not come into the movement, the pillars of this stupen 
dous fabric of human freedom and greatness and goodness are to 
be pulled down, and all will be involved in one common ruin. 
Such is the threatening language used. ' You shall come into 
our Confederacy, or we will coerce you to the emancipation of 
your slaves.' That is the language which is held toward us. 

" There are many ideas afloat about this threatened dissolution, 
and it is time to speak out. The question arises in reference to 
the protection and preservation of the institution of slavery, 
whether dissolution is a remedy or will give to it protection. I 
avow here, to-day, that if I were an abolitionist, and wanted to 
accomplish the overthrow and abolition of the institution of 
slavery in the Southern States, the first step that I would take 
would be to break the bonds of this Union, and dissolve this 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 117 

Government. I believe the continuance of slavery depends upon 
the preservation of this Union, and a compliance with all the 
guaranties of the Constitution. I believe an interference with it 
will break up the Union ; and I believe a dissolution of the Union 
will, in the end, though it may be some time to come, overthrow 
the institution of slavery. Hence we find so many in the North 
who desire the dissolution of these States as the most certain and 
direct and effectual means of overthrowing the institution of 
slavery. 

" What protection would it be to us to dissolve this Union ? 
What protection would it be to us to convert this nation into two 
hostile powers, the one warring with the other ? Whose property 
is at stake ? Whose interest is endangered ? Is it not the prop- 
ertjr of the border States ? Suppose Canada were moved down 
upon our border, and the two separated sections, then different 
nations, were hostile : what would the institution of slavery be 
worth on the border ? Every man who has common sense will 
see that the institution would take up its march and retreat, as 
certainly and as unerringly as general laws can operate. Yes, it 
would commence to retreat the very moment this Government 
was converted into hostile powers, and you made the line between 
the slaveholdino; and non-slaveholdino- States the line of division. 

" Then, what remedy do we get for the institution of slavery ? 
Must we keep up a standing army? Must we keep up forts 
bristling with arms along the whole border? This is a question 
to be considered, one that involves the future; and no step should 
be taken without mature reflection. Before this Union is dis- 
solved and broken up, we in Tennessee, as one of the slave States, 
want to be consulted ; we want to know what protection we are 
to have ; whether we are simply to be made outposts and guards 
to protect the property of others, at the same time that we 
sacrifice and lose our own. We want to understand this question. 

" Again : if there is one division of the States, will there not be 
more than one ? I heard a Senator say the other day that he 
would rather see this Government separated into thirty-three 
fractional parts than to see it consolidated ; but when you once 



118 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

begin to divide, when the first division is made, who can tell 
when the next will be made ? When these States are all turned 
loose, and a different condition of things is presented, with com- 
plex and abstruse interests to be considered and weighed and 
understood, what combinations may take place no one can tell. 
I am opposed to the consolidation of Government, and I am as 
much for the reserved rights of States as any one ; but, rather 
than see this Union divided into thirty-three petty Governments, 
with a little prince in one, a potentate in another, a little aristoc- 
racy in a third, a little democracy in a fourth, and a republic 
somewhere else ; a citizen not being able to pass from one State 
to another without a passport or a commission from his Govern- 
ment ; with quarrelling and warring amongst the little petty pow- 
ers, which would result in anarchy ; I would rather see this 
Government to-day — I proclaim it here in my place — converted 
into a consolidated Government. It would be better for the 
American people; it would be better for our kind; it would be 
better for humanity ; better for Christianity ; better for all that 
tends to elevate and ennoble man, than breaking up this splendid, 
this magnificent, this stupendous fabric of human government, 
the most perfect that the world ever saw, and which has succeeded 
thus far without a parallel in the history of the world. 

" Here, in the centre of the Republic, is the seat of Govern- 
ment, which was founded by "Washington, and bears his immortal 
name. Who dare appropriate it exclusively ? It is within the 
borders of the States I have enumerated, in whose limits are 
found the graves of Washington, of Jackson, of Polk, of Clay. 
From them is it supposed that we will be torn away ? No, sir ; 
we will cherish these endearing associations with the hope, if this 
Republic shall be broken, that we may speak words of peace and 
reconciliation to a distracted, a divided, I may add, a maddened 
people. Angry waves may be lashed into fury on the one hand ; 
on the other blustering winds may rage ; but we stand immovable 
upon our basis, as on our own native mountains — presenting their 
craggy brows, their unexplored caverns, their summits 'rock- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 119 

ribbed and as ancient as the sun ' — we stand speaking peace, 
association, and concert, to a distracted Kepublic. 

" Notwithstanding we want to occupy the position of a break- 
water between the Northern and the Southern extremes, and bring 
all together if we can, I tell our Northern friends that the consti- 
tutional guaranties must be carried out ; for the time may come 
when, after we have exhausted all honorable and fair means, if 
this Government still fails to execute the laws, and protect us in 
our rights, it will be at an end. Gentlemen of the North need, 
not deceive themselves in that particular ; but we intend to act in 
the Union and under the Constitution, and not out of it. We do 
not intend that you shall drive us out of this house that was 
reared by the hands of our fathers. It is our house. It is the 
constitutional house. We have a right here ; and because you 
come forward and violate the ordinances of this house, I do not 
intend to go out ; and if you persist in the violation of the 
ordinances of the house, we intend to eject you from the building 
and retain the possession ourselves. We want, if we can, to stay 
the heated, and I am compelled to say, according to my judgment, 
the rash and precipitate action of some of our Southern friends, 
that indicates red-hot madness. I want to say to those in the 
North, comply with the Constitution and preserve its guaranties, 
and in so doing save this glorious Union and all that pertains to 
it. I intend to stand by the Constitution as it is, insisting upon 
a compliance with all its guaranties. I intend to stand by it as 
the sheet-anchor of the Government ; and I trust and hope, though 
it seems to be now in the very vortex of ruin, though it seems to 
be running between Charybdis and Scylla, the rock on the one 
hand and the whirlpool on the other, that it will be preserved, 
and will remain a beacon to guide, and an example to be imitated 
by all the nations of the earth. Yes, I intend to hold on to it as 
the chief ark of our safety, as the palladium of our civil and our 
religious liberty. I intend to cling to it as the shipwrecked 
mariner clings to the last plank, when the night and the tempest 
close around him. It is the last hope of human freedom. 
Although denounced as an experiment by some who want to see 



120 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

a constitutional monarchy, it has been a successful experiment. 
I trust and I hope it will be continued; that this great work may- 
go on. 

" Why should we go out of the Union ? Have we any thing 
to fear ? What are we alarmed about ? We say that you of the 
North have violated the Constitution; that you have trampled 
under foot its guaranties ; but we intend to go to you in a proper 
way, and ask you to redress the wrong, and to comply with the 
Constitution. We believe the time will come when you will do it, 
and we do not intend to break up the Government until the fact 
is ascertained that you will not do it. Where is the grievance, 
where is the complaint that presses on our sister, South Carolina, 
now ? Is it that she wants to carry slavery into the Territories — 
that she wants protection to slavery there ? How long has it 
been since, upon this very floor, her own Senators voted that it 
was not necessary to make a statute now for the protection of 
slavery in the Territories ? No longer ago than the last session. 
Is that a good reason ? They declared, in the resolutions adopted 
by the Senate, that when it was necessary they had the power to 
do it ; but that it was not necessary then. Are you going out 
for a grievance that has not occurred, and which . your own 
Senators then said had not occurred ? Is it because you want to 
carry slaves to the Territories ? You were told that you had all 
the protection needed; that the courts had decided in your 
behalf, under the Constitution ; and that, under the decisions of 
the courts, the law must be executed. 

" We do not think that we have just cause for going out of 
the Union now. We have just cause of complaint ; but we are 
for remaining in the Union and fighting the battle like men. We 
do not intend to be cowardly, and turn our backs on our own 
camps. We intend to stay and fight the battle here upon 
this consecrated ground. Why should we retreat? Because 
Mr. Lincoln has been elected President of the United States? 
Is this any cause why we should retreat? Does not every 
man, Senator or otherwise, know that if Mr. Breckinridge 
had been elected, we should not be to-day for dissolving the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 121 

Union ? Then what is the issue ? It is because we have not got 
our man. If we had got our man, we should not have been for 
breaking up the Union ; but as Mr. Lincoln is elected, we are for 
breaking up the Union ! I say no. Let us show ourselves men, 
and men of courage. 

"How has Mr. Lincoln been elected, and how have Mr. Breck- 
inridge and Mr. Douglas been defeated ? By the votes of the 
American people, cast according to the Constitution and the forms 
of law, though it has been upon a sectional issue. It is not the 
first time in our history that two candidates have been elected 
from the same section of country. General Jackson and Mr. Cal- 
houn were elected on the same ticket ; but nobody considered 
that cause of dissolution. They were from the South. While I 
oppose the sectional spirit that has produced the election of Lin- 
coln and Hamlin, yet it has been done according to the Consti- 
tution and according to the forms of law. I believe we have the 
power in our own hands, and I am not willing to shrink from the 
responsibility of exercising that power. 

" How has Lincoln been elected, and upon what basis does he 
stand ? A minority President by nearly a million votes ; but had 
the election taken place upon the plan proposed in my amendment 
of the Constitution, by districts, he would have been this day de- 
feated. But it has been done according to the Constitution and 
according to law. I am for abiding by the Constitution ; and in 
abiding by it I want to maintain and retain my place here and put 
down Mr. Lincoln and drive back his advances upon Southern in- 
stitutions, if he designs to make any. Have we not got the 
brakes in our hands ? Have we not got the power ? We have. 
Let South Carolina send her Senators back ; let all the Senators 
come ; and on the 4th of March next we shall have a majority of 
six in this body against him. The successful sectional candidate, 
who is in a minority of a million, or nearly so, on the popular 
vote, cannot make his Cabinet on the 4th of March next unless the 
Senate will permit him. 

" Am I to be so great a coward as to retreat from duty ? I will 
stand here and meet the encroachments upon the institutions of 
6 



122 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

my country at the threshold ; and as a man, as one that loves my 
country and my constituents, I will stand here and resist all en- 
croachments and advances. Here is the place to stand. Shall I 
desert the citadel, and let the enemy come in and take possession ? 
No. Can Mr. Lincoln send a foreign minister, or even a consul, 
abroad, unless he receives the sanction of the Senate ? Can he ap- 
point a postmaster whose salary is over a thousand dollars a year, 
without the consent of the Senate ? Shall we desert our posts, 
shrink from our responsibilities, and permit Mr. Lincoln to come 
with his cohorts, as we consider them, from the North, to carry 
off every thing ? Are we so cowardly that now that we are de- 
feated, not conquered, we shall do this ? Yes, we are defeated ac- 
cording to the forms of law and the Constitution ; but the real 
victory is ours — the moral force is with us. Are we going to 
desert that noble and that patriotic band who have stood by us at 
the North ? who have stood by us upon principle ? who have stood 
by us upon the Constitution ? They stood by us and fought the 
battle upon principle ; and now that we have been defeated, not 
conquered, are we to turn our backs upon them and leave them to 
their fate ? I, for one, will not. I intend to stand by them. How 
many votes did we get in the North ? We got more votes in the 
North against Lincoln than the entire Southern States cast. Are 
they not able and faithful allies ? They are ; and now, on account 
of this temporary defeat, are we to turn our backs upon them and 
leave them to their fate, as they have fallen for us in former con- 
troversies ? 

" We find, when all the North is summed up, that Mr. Lin- 
coln's majority there is only about two hundred thousand on the 
popular vote; and when that is added to the other vote cast 
throughout the Union, he stands to-day in a minority of nearly a 
million votes. What, then, is necessary to be done ? To stand to 
our posts like men, and act upon principle ; stand for the country ; 
and in four years from this day, Lincoln and his administration 
will be turned out, the worst-defeated and broken-down party that 
ever came into power. It is an inevitable result from the combina- 
tion of elements that now exist. What cause, then, is there to 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 123 

break up the Union ? What reason is there for deserting our posts 
and destroying this greatest and best Government that was ever 
spoken into existence ? 

" I voted against him ; I spoke against him ; I spent my money 
to defeat him : but still I love my country ; I love the Constitu- 
tion ; I intend to insist upon its guaranties. There, and there 
alone, I intend to plant myself, with the confident hope and belief 
that if the Union remains together, in less than four years the now 
triumphant party will be overthrown. 

" I have an abiding faith, I have an unshaken confidence in 
man's capability to govern himself. I will not give up this Gov- 
ernment that is now called an experiment, which some are pre- 
pared to abandon, for a constitutional monarchy. No ; I intend to 
stand by it, and I entreat every man throughout the nation who is 
a patriot, and who has seen, and is compelled to admit, the success 
of this great experiment, to come forward, not in heat, not in fa- 
naticism, not in haste, not in precipitancy, but in deliberation, in 
full view of all that is before us, in the spirit of brotherly love and 
fraternal affection, and rally around the altar of our common 
country, and lay the Constitution upon it as our last libation, and 
swear by our God, and all that is sacred and holy, that the Consti- 
tution shall be saved, and the Union preserved. Yes, in the lan- 
guage of the departed Jackson, let us exclaim that the Union, 
'the Federal Union, it must be preserved.' 

"Mr. President, I have said much more than I anticipated 
when I commenced ; and I have said more now (though external 
appearances seem different) than I have strength or health to say ; 
but if there is any effort of mine that would preserve this Govern- 
ment till there is time to think, till there is time to consider, even 
if it cannot be preserved any longer ; if that end could be secured 
by making a sacrifice of my existence and offering up my blood, I 
would be wilhng to consent to it. Let us pause in this mad 
career ; let us hesitate ; let us consider well what we are doing 
before we make a movement. I believe that, to a certain extent, 
dissolution is going to take place. I say to the North, You ought 
to come up in the spirit which should characterize and control the 



124: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

North on this question ; and you ought to give those indications 
in good faith that will approach what the South demands. It will 
be no sacrifice on your part. It is no suppliancy on ours, but 
simply a demand of right. What concession is there in doing 
right ? Then, come forward. We have it in our power — yes, this 
Congress here to-day has it in its power to save this Union, even 
after South Carolina has gone out. Will they not do it ? You 
can do it. Who is willing to take the dreadful alternative without 
making an honorable effort to save this Government ? This Con- 
gress has it in its power to-day to arrest this thing, at least for a 
season, until there is time to consider about it, until we can act 
discreetly and prudently, and I believe arrest it altogether. 

" Shall we give all this up to the Vandals and the Goths ? 
Shall we shrink from our duty, and desert the Government as a 
sinking ship, or shall we stand by it ? I, for one, will stand here 
until the high behest of my constituents demands me to desert ray 
post ; and instead of laying hold of the columns of this fabric and 
pulling it down, though I may not be much of a prop, I will stand 
with my shoulder supporting the edifice as long as human effort 
can do it. Then, cannot we agree ? We can, if we will, and 
come together and save the country. Then, let us stand by the 
Constitution ; and in preserving the Constitution we shall save the 
Union ; and in saving the Union, we save this, the greatest Gov- 
ernment on earth." 



CHAPTER X. 

Second Speech exposing the heresy of Secession — Evils and Disasters foretold 
— The only man from eleven States contending for the Union — Warnings 
to his friends in Tennessee — Acquiesces in the Election of Mr. Lincoln — 
Reasons — Urges Guaranties for Slavery — Supports the Crittenden Com- 
promise — Charges against Mr. Johnson — Proved to be Slanders — Resolu- 
tion offered by him in the Senate on the objects of the War. 

On the 5th and 6th of February, 1861, Mr. Johnson 
again addressed the Senate for two days, still further ex- 
posing the heresy of secession, and proving from the record 
that the present disunion movement was the consumma- 
tion of a plan that had been conspiring and maturing for a 
great many years. This great speech, equal in power, 
analysis, and argument to the previous one, was the con- 
tinuation of the same laborious effort to save the Union 
and avert war. No one, on reading the speech, can fail to 
discover the deep-seated sorrow and agony of his soul at 
contemplating the death of the Union and the horrors of 
civil war. He foretold the evils and disasters that would 
inevitably follow. He distinctly announced to his South- 
ern brethren in the Senate that he would not follow them 
out of the Union — that he was resolved to adhere to the 
Union, to the Government of our fathers, and to the flag 
of his country, and to abide their destiny. He said : 

" I have been uniformly opposed to the doctrine of secession, 
or of nullification, which is rather a hermaphrodite, but approxi- 



126 LIFE OF ANDBEW JOHNSON. 

mates to the doctrine of secession. I repeat, that I then viewed 
it as a heresy and as an element which, if maintained, would 
result in the destruction of this Government. I maintain the same 
position to-day. I then opposed the doctrine of secession as a 
political heresy, which, if sanctioned and sustained as a funda- 
mental principle of this Government, will result in its overthrow 
and destruction ; for, as we have seen already, a few of the States 
are crumbling and falling off. 

" I oppose this heresy for another reason ; not only as being 
destructive of the existing Government, but as being destructive 
of all future confederacies that may be established in consequence 
of a disruption of the present one ; and I availed myself of the 
former occasion on which I spoke, to enter my protest against it, 
and to do something to extinguish a political heresy that ought 
never to be incorporated upon this or any other Government which 
may be subsequently established. I look upon it as the prolific 
mother of political sin ; as a fundamental error ; as a heresy that 
is intolerable in contrast with the existence of the Government 
itself. I look upon it as being productive of anarchy ; and 
anarchy is the next step to despotism. The developments that we 
have recently seen in carrying this doctrine into practice, I think, 
admonish us that this will be the result. 

"In the acquisition of Louisiana there was another very im- 
portant acquisition. "We acquired the exclusive and entire control 
of the navigation of the Mississippi River. We find that Louisiana, 
in her ordinance of secession, makes the negative declaration that 
she has the control of the navigation of that great stream, by 
stating that the navigation of the river shall be free to those States 
that remain on friendly terms with her, with the proviso that 
moderate contributions are to be levied to defray such expenses as 
they may deem expedient from time to time. That is the sub- 
stance of it. Sir, look at the facts. All the States, through their 
Federal Government, treated for Louisiana. The treaty was made. 
All the States, by the contribution of their money, paid for 
Louisiana and the navigation of the Mississippi River. Where, 
and from what source, does Louisiana now derive the power or the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 127 

authority to secede from this Union and set up exclusive control of 
the navigation of that great stream which is owned by all the States, 
which was paid for by the money of all the States, and upon whose 
borders the blood of many citizens of the States has been shed ? 

" This is one of the aggrieved, the oppressed States ! Mr. 
President, is it not apparent that these grievances and oppressions 
are mere pretences ? A large portion of the South (and that por- 
tion of it I am willing stand by to the very last extremity) believe 
that aggressions have been made upon them by the other States, 
in reference to the institution of slavery. A large portion of the 
South believe that something ought to be done in the shape of 
what has been offered by the distinguished Senator from Ken- 
tucky, or something very similar. They think and feel that that 
ought to be done. But, sir, there is another portion who do not 
care for those propositions to bring about reconciliation, but who, 
on the contrary, have been afraid and alarmed that something 
would be done to reconcile and satisfy the public mind, before this 
diabolical work of secession could be consummated. Yes, sir, 
they have been afraid, and the occasion has been used to justify 
and carry out a doctrine into practice, which is not only the 
destruction of this Government, but which will be the destruction 
of all other governments that may be originated, embracing the 
same principle. Why not, then, meet it like men ? We know 
there is a portion of the South who are for secession, who are for 
breaking up this Government, without regard to slavery or any 
thing else, as I shall show before I have done. 

" The Senator from Louisiana yesterday seemed to be very 
serious in regard to the practical operation of the doctrine of 
secession. I felt sorry myself, somewhat. I am always reluctant 
to part with a gentleman with whom I have been associated, and 
nothing had transpired to disturb between us those courteous rela- 
tions which should always exist between persons associated on this 
floor. I thought the scene was pretty well got up, and was acted 
out admirably. The plot was executed to the very letter. You 
would have thought that his people in Louisiana were borne down 
and seriously oppressed by remaining in this Union of States. 



128 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Now, I have an extract before me, from a speech delivered by that 
gentleman since the election of Abraham Lincoln, while the dis- 
tinguished Senator was on the western slope of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, at the city of San Francisco. He was called upon to make 
an address ; and I will read an extract from it, which I find in the 
New York ' Times,' the editors of which paper said they had the 
speech before them ; and I have consulted a gentleman here who 
was in California at the time, and he tells me that the report is 
correct. In that speech — after the Senator had spoken sometime 
with his accustomed eloquence — he uttered this language : 

' Those who prate of, and strive to dissolve this glorious Confederacy of 
States, are like those silly savages who let fly their arrows at the sun in the 
vain hope of piercing it. And still the sun rolls on, unheeding, in its eternal 
pathway, shedding light and animation upon all the world.' 

" Even after Lincoln was elected, the Senator from Louisiana 
is reported to have said, in the State of California, and in the city 
of San Francisco, that this great Union could not be destroyed. 
Those great and intolerable oppressions, of which we have since 
heard from him, did not seem to be flitting across his vision and 
playing upon his mind with that vividness and clearness which 
were displayed here yesterday. He said, in California, that this 
great Union would go on in its course, notwithstanding the puny 
efforts of the silly savages that were letting fly their arrows with 
the prospect of piercing it. What has changed the Senator's 
mind on coming from that side of the continent to this ? What 
light has broken in upon him ? Has he been struck on his way, 
like Paul, when he was journeying from Tarsus to Damascus ? 

" Since that speech was made, since the Senator has traversed 
from California to this point, the grievances, the oppressions of 
Louisiana, have become so great that she is justified in going out 
of the Union, taking into her possession the custom-house, the 
mint, the navigation of the Mississippi River, the forts, and arsenals. 
Where are we ? ' Oh, consistency, thou art a jewel, much to be 
admired, but rarely to be found.' 

" Mr. President, I never do things by halves. I am against 
this doctrine entirely. I commenced making war upon it — a war 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 129 

for the Constitution and the Union — and I intend to sink or swim 
upon it. [Applause in the galleries.] 

"The Senator from Virginia says a State has the right to 
secede from the Union, and that it is a right resulting from the 
nature of the compact; but Mr. Jefferson said that even under the 
old Articles of Confederation, no State had a right to refuse 
obedience to the Confederacy, and that there was a right to 
enforce its compliance : 

1 Congress would probably exercise long patience before they would recur 
to force ; but if the case ultimately required it, they would use that recurrence. 
Should this case ever arise, they will probably coerce by a naval force, as 
being more easy, less dangerous to liberty, and less likely to produce blood- 
shed.'— Jefferson's Works, vol. ix., p. 291. 

" When was this ? I have stated that it was under the old 
Articles of Confederation, when there was no power to compel a 
State even to contribute her proportion of the revenues ; but in 
that view of the case, Mr. Jefferson said that the injured party 
had a right to enforce compliance with the compact from the 
offending State, and that this was a right deducible from the laws 
of Nature. The present Constitution was afterwards formed ; and 
to avoid this difficulty in raising revenue, the power was conferred 
upon the Congress of the United States 'to lay and collect taxes, 
duties, imposts, and excises,' and the Constitution created a 
direct relation between the citizen and the Federal Government in 
that matter, and to that extent that relation is just as direct and 
complete between the Federal Government and the citizen as is 
the relation between the State and the citizen in other matters. 
Hence we find that, by an amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States, the citizen cannot even make a State a party to a 
suit, and bring her into the Federal courts. They wanted to 
avoid the difficulty of coercing a State, and the Constitution con- 
ferred on the Federal Government the power to operate directly 
upon the citizen, instead of operating on the States. It being the 
right of the Government to enforce obedience from the citizen in 
those matters of which it has jurisdiction, the question comes up 
as to the exercise of this right. It may not always be expedient. 



130 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

It must depend upon discretion, as was eloquently said by the 
Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Crittenden] on one occasion. It 
is a matter of discretion, even as Mr. Jefferson laid it down before 
this provision existed in the Constitution, before the Government 
had power to collect its revenue as it now has. I know that 
when, on a former occasion, I undertook to show, as I thought I 
did show, clearly and distinctly, the difference between the exist- 
ence and the exercise of this power, words were put into my 
mouth that I did not utter, and positions answered which I had 
never assumed. It was said that I took the bold ground of 
coercing a State. I expressly disclaimed it. I stated, in my 
speech, that, by the Constitution, we could not put a State into 
court ; but I said there were certain relations created by the Con- 
stitution between the Federal Government and the citizen, and that 
we could enforce those laws against the citizen. 

" When the Fugitive Slave law was executed in the city of 
Boston, by the aid of military force, was that understood to be 
coercing a State, or was it simply understood to be an enforcement 
of the law upon those who, it was assumed, had violated it ? In 
this same decision the Supreme Court declare that the Fugitive 
Slave law, in all its details, is constitutional, and therefore should 
be enforced. Who is prepared to say that the decision of the 
Court shall not be carried out ? Who is prepared to say that the 
Fugitive Slave law shall not be enforced ? Do you coerce a State 
.when you simply enforce the law ? If one man robs the mail and 
you seek to arrest him, and he resists, and you employ force, do 
you call that coercion 1 If a man counterfeits your coin, and is 
arrested and convicted, and punishment is resisted, cannot you 
execute the law ? It is true that sometimes so many may become 
infected with disobedience, outrages and violations of law may be 
participated in by so many, that they get beyond the control of 
the ordinary operations of law ; the disaffection may swell to such 
proportions as to be too great for the Government to control ; and 
then it becomes a matter of discretion, not a matter of constitu- 
tional right. 

" Now, sir, what is treason ? The Constitution of the United 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 131 

States defines it, and narrows it down to a very small compass. 
The Constitution declares that ' treason against the United States 
shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to 
their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.' Who are levying 
war upon the United States ? Who are adhering to the enemies 
of the United States, giving them aid and comfort ? Does it re- 
quire a man to take the lantern of Diogenes, and make a diligent 
search to find those who have been engaged in levying war against 
the United States ? Will it require any very great research or 
observation to discover those who have been adhering to those 
who were making war against the United States, and giving them 
aid and comfort ? If there are any such in the United States 
they ought to be punished according to law and the Constitution. 
[Applause in the galleries, which was suppressed by the presiding 
officer, Mr. Fitch, in the chair.] Mr. Eitchie, speaking for the Old 
Dominion, used language that was unmistakable, that treason 
should be punished, springing out of the hotbed of the Hartford 
Convention. It was all right to talk about treason then ; it was all 
right to punish traitors in that direction. For myself, I care not 
whether treason be committed North or South ; he that is guilty 
of treason is entitled to a traitor's fate. 

" We see that there is a design with some to break up this 
Government without reference to the slavery question ; and the 
slavery question is by them made a pretence for destroying this 
Union. They have at length passed their ordinance of secession ; 
they assume to be out of the Union ; they declare that they are no 
longer a member of the Confederacy. Now what are the other 
States called upon to do ? Are the other States called upon to 
make South Carolina an example ? Are those slave States who be- 
lieve that freemen should govern and that freemen can take care 
of slave property, to be ' precipitated into a revolution ' by follow- 
ing the example of South Carolina ? Will they do it ? What 
protection, what security will Tennessee, will Kentucky, will Vir- 
ginia, will Maryland, or any other State, receive from South Caro- 
lina by following her example ? What protection can she give 
them ? On the contrary, she indulges in a threat toward them — a 



132 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

threat that if they do not imitate her example and come into a new 
confederacy upon her terms, they are to be put under the ban, and 
their slave property to be subjected to restraint and restriction. 
What protection can South Carolina give Tennessee? Any? 
None upon the face of the earth. 

" Some of the men who are engaged in the work of disruption 
and dissolution, want Tennessee and Kentucky and Virginia to 
furnish them with men and money in the event of their becoming 
engaged in a war for the conquest of Mexico. The Tennesseeans 
and KentucMans and Virginians are very desirable when their men 
and their money are wanted ; but what protection does South Car- 
olina give Tennessee ? If negro property is endangered in Ten- 
nessee, we have to defend it and pay for it — not South Carolina, 
that has been an apple of discord in this Confederacy from my 
earliest recollection down to the present time, complaining of every 
thing, satisfied with nothing. I do not intend to be invidious, but 
I have sometimes thought that it would be a comfort if Massachu- 
setts and South Carolina could be chained together as the Siamese 
twins, separated from the continent, and taken out to some remote 
and secluded part of the ocean, and there fast anchored, to be 
washed by the waves, and to be cooled by the winds ; and after 
they had been kept there a sufficient length of time, the people of 
the United States might entertain the proposition of taking them 
back. [Laughter.] They seem to have been the source of dissat- 
isfaction pretty much ever since they were in the Confederacy ; 
and some experiment of this sort, I think, would operate benefici- 
ally upon them ; but as they are here, we must try to do the best 
we can with them. 

"I march down upon South Carolina! Did I propose any 
such thing ? No. War is not the natural element in my mind ; 
and, as I stated in that speech, my thoughts were turned on peace, 
and not on war. I want no strife. I want no war. In the lan- 
guage of a denomination that is numerous in the country, I may 
say I hate war and love peace. I belong to the peace party. I 
thought, when I was making that speech, that I was holding out 
the olive-branch of peace. I wanted to give quiet and reconcilia- 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 133 

tion to a distracted and excited country. That was the object I 
had in view. War, I repeat, is not the natural element of my 
mind. I would rather wear upon my garments the tinge of the 
shop and the dust of the field, as badges of the pursuits of peace, 
than the gaudy epaulette upon my shoulder, or a sword dangling by 
my side, with its glittering scabbard, the insignia of strife, of war, 
of blood, of carnage ; sometimes of honorable and glorious war. 
But, sir, I would rather see the people of the United States at war 
with any other power upon the habitable globe, than to be at war 
with each other. If blood must be shed, let it not be shed 
by the people of these States, the one contending against the 
other. 

" Mr. President, the Senator, in the sentence I have quoted, 
assumes that South Carolina, for instance, had the right to secede ; 
and he assumes, also, that South Carolina can obtain that out of 
the Union which she has failed to obtain in it. Let us raise the 
inquiry here : What is it, since she entered into this Confederacy of 
States, that South Carolina has desired or asked at the hands of the 
Federal Government, or demanded upon constitutional ground, that 
she has not obtained \ What great wrong, what great injury, has 
been inflicted upon South Carolina by her continuance in this Union 
of States ? I know it is very easy, and even Senators have fallen 
into the habit of it, to repeat some phrases almost as a chorus to a 
song ; such as ' if we cannot get our rights in the Union, we will 
go out of the Union and obtain those rights ; that we are for the 
equality of the States in the Union, and if we cannot get it we will 
go out of the Union,' I suppose to bring about that equality. 
What is the point of controversy in the public mind at this time ? 
Let us look at the question as it is. We know that the issue which 
has been before the country to a very great extent, and which, in 
fact, has recently occupied the consideration of the public, is the 
territorial question. It is said that South Carolina has been refused 
her rights in the Union, with reference to that territorial question, 
and therefore she is going out of the Union to obtain that which 
she cannot get in it. 

" But let us take the fact as it is. South Carolina, it is said, 



134 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

•wanted protection in the Territories. I have shown that she said, 
herself, that further protection was not needed ; but if it should be 
needed, then Congress should give it. But South Carolina — the 
kingdom of South Carolina — in the plenitude of her power, and 
upon her own volition, without consultation with the other States 
of this Confederacy, has gone out of the Union, or assumed to go 
out. The next inquiry is : What does South Carolina now get, in 
the language of the distinguished Senator from Oregon, out of the 
Union that she did not get in the Union ? Is there a man in South 
Carolina to-day who wants to carry a single slave into any Terri- 
tory that we have got in the United States that is now unoccupied 
by slave property ? I am almost ready to hazard the assertion that 
there is not one. If he had not the power and the right to carry 
his slave property into a Territory while in the Union, has he ob- 
tained that right now by going out of the Union ? Has any thing 
been obtained by violating the Constitution of the United States, 
by withdrawing from the sisterhood of States, that could not have 
been obtained in it ? Can South Carolina, now, any more con- 
veniently and practically carry slavery into the Territories, than she 
could before she went out of the Union ? Then what has she ob- 
tained ? What has she got, even upon the doctrine laid down by 
the distinguished Senator from Oregon ? 

" But it is argued, striding over the Constitution and violating 
that comity and faith which should exist amongst the States com- 
posing this Confederacy, that she had a right to secede ; she had 
a right to carry slaves into the Territories ; and therefore, she will 
secede and go out of the Union. This reasoning on the part of 
South Carolina is about as sound as that of the madman, who as- 
sumed that he had dominion over the beasts of the forest, and 
therefore that he had a right to shear a wolf. His friends remon- 
strated with him, and, admitting his right to do so, inquired of 
him if he had considered the danger and difficulty of the attempt. 
'No,' said the madman, 'I have not considered that; that is no 
part of my consideration ; man has the dominion over the beasts 
of the forest, and therefore he has a right to shear a wolf; and as 
I have a right to do so, I will exercise it.' His friends still remon- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 135 

strated and expostulated, and asked him, not only ' Have you con- 
sidered the danger, the difficulty, and the consequences resulting 
from such an attempt ; ' but, ' "What will the shearing be worth ? ' 
1 But,' he replied, * I have the right, and therefore I will shear a 
wolf.' South Carolina has the right, according to the doctrine of 
the seceders and disunionists of this country, to go out of the 
Union, and therefore she will go out of the Union. 

" And what, Mr. President, has South Carolina gained by going 
out? It has been just about as profitable an operation as the 
shearing of the wolf by the madman. Can she now carry slaves 
into the Territories ? Does she even get any division of the Ter- 
ritories ? None ; she has lost all that. Does she establish a right ? 
No ; but by the exercise of this abstract right, as contended for 
by secessionists, what has she got ? Oppression, taxation, a reign 
of terror over her people, as the result of their rashness in the ex- 
ercise of this assumed right. In what condition are her people 
now ? They have gone out of the Union to obtain their rights, to 
maintain their liberty, to get that out of the Union which they 
could not get in it ! While they were in the Union, they were 
not taxed a million and some six or seven or eight hundred thou- 
sand dollars in addition to their usual expenditures, to sustain 
standing armies and to meet other expenditures which are incurred 
by separation. But still she has the right to tax her people ; she 
has the right to institute a reign of terror ; she has the right to 
exclude her people from the ballot-box ; and she has exercised the 
right, and these are the consequences. She has got her rights ! 
She has gone out of the Union to be free, and has introduced a 
galling system of tyranny. She has gone out of the Union to be 
relieved from taxes, and has increased the burdens upon her peo- 
ple fourfold. All this is in the exercise of her right ! 

" Sir, let us look at the contest through which we are passing, 
and consider what South Carolina, and the other States who have 
undertaken to secede from the Confederacy, have gained. What 
is the great difficulty which has existed in the public mind ? We 
know that, practically, the territorial question is settled. Then 
what is the cause for breaking up this great Union of States ? 



136 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

Has the Union or the Constitution encroached upon the rights of 
South Carolina or any other State ? Has this glorious Union, that 
was inaugurated by the adoption of the Constitution, which was 
framed by the patriots and sages of the Revolution, harmed South 
Carolina or any other State ? No ; it has offended none ; it has 
protected all. What is the difficulty? We have some bad men 
in the South — the truth I will speak — and we have some bad men 
in the North, who want to dissolve this Union in order to gratify 
their unhallowed ambition. And what do we find here upon this 
floor and upon the floor of the other House of Congress? Words 
of crimination and recrimination are heard. Bad men North say 
provoking things in reference to the institutions of the South, and 
bad men and bad-tempered men of the South say provoking and 
insulting things in return ; and so goes on a war of crimination 
and recrimination in reference to the two sections of the country, 
and the institutions peculiar to each. They become enraged and 
insulted, and then they are denunciatory of each other ; and what 
is the result? The abolitionists, and those who entertain their 
sentiments, abuse men of the South, and men of the South abuse 
them in return. They do not fight each other ; but they both be- 
come offended and enraged. One is dissatisfied with the other ; 
one is insulted by the other ; and then, to seek revenge, to gratify 
themselves, they both agree to make war upon the Union that 
never offended or injured either. Is this right ? What has this 
Union done? Why should these contending parties make war 
upon it because they have insulted and aggrieved each other? 
This glorious Union, that was spoken into existence by the fathers 
of the country, must be made war upon to gratify these animosi- 
ties. Shall we, because we have said bitter things of each other 
which have been offensive, turn upon the Government, and seek its 
destruction ? 

" I have already asked what is to be gained by the breaking 
up of this Confederacy. An appeal is made to the border slave- 
holding States to unite in what is commonly styled the Gulf Con- 
federacy. If there is to be a division of this republic, I would 
rather see the line run anywhere than between the slaveholding 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 137 

and the non-slaveholding States, and the division made on account 
of a hostility, on the one hand, to the institution of slavery, and 
a preference for it, on the other ; for wherever that line is drawn, 
it is the line of civil war ; it is the line at which the overthrow of 
slavery begins ; the line from which it commences to recede. Let 
me ask the border States, if that state of things should occur, who 
is to protect them in the enjoyment of their slave property ? Will 
South Carolina, that has gone madly out, protect them ? Will 
Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana, still further down toward 
the Gulf? Will they come to our rescue, and protect us? Shall 
we partake of their frenzy, adopt the mistaken policy into which 
they have fallen, and begin the work of the destruction of the in- 
stitution in which we are equally interested with them ? I have 
already said that I believe the dissolution of this Union will be the 
commencement of the overthrow and destruction of the institution 
of slavery. In a Northern Confederacy, or in a Southern Confed- 
eracy, or in a middle Confederacy, the border slaveholding States 
will have to take care of that particular species of property by 
their own strength, and by whatever influence they may exert in 
the organization in which they may be placed. The Gulf States 
cannot, they will not, protect us. We shall have to protect our- 
selves, and perchance to protect them. As I remarked yesterday, 
my own opinion is, that the great desire to embrace the border 
States, as they are called, in this particular and exclusive Southern 
Confederacy, which it is proposed to get up, is not that they want 
us there out of pure good will, but they want us there as a matter 
of interest ; so that if they are involved in war, in making acqui- 
sitions of territory still further south, or war growing out of any 
other cause, they may have a corps de reserve, they may have a 
power behind, that can furnish them men and money — men that 
have the hearts and the souls to fight and meet an enemy, come 
from what quarter he may. 

" What have we to gain by that ? The fact that two taken 
from four leaves but two remaining, is not clearer to my mind than 
it is that the dissolution of the Union is the beginning of the de- 
struction of slavery ; and that if a division be accomplished, as 



138 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

some desire, directly between the slaveholding and the non-slave- 
holding States, the work will be commenced most effectually. 

" I have been told, and I have heard it repeated, that this 
Union is gone. It has been said in this chamber that it is in the 
cold sweat of death ; that, in fact, it is really dead, and merely 
lying in state waiting for the funeral obsequies to be performed. 
If this be so, and the war that has been made upon me in conse- 
quence of advocating the Constitution and the Union is to result 
in my overthrow and in my destruction ; and that flag, that glo- 
rious flag, the emblem of the Union, which was borne by "Wash- 
ington through a seven years' struggle, shall be struck from the Cap- 
itol and trailed in the dust — when this Union is interred, I want 
no more honorable winding-sheet than that brave old flag, and 
no more glorious grave than to be interred in the tomb of the 
Union. [Applause in the galleries.] For it I have stood ; for it 
I will continue to stand, I care not whence the blows come ; and 
some will find, before this thing is over, that while there are blows 
to be given, there will be blows to receive ; and that, while others 
can thrust, there are some who can parry. They will find that it 
is a game that two can play at. God preserve my country from 
the desolation that is threatening her, from treason and traitors ! 

' Is there not some chosen curse, 
Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, 
Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man 
Who owes his greatness to his country's ruin ! ' 

[Applause in the galleries.] 

" In conclusion, Mr. President, I make an appeal to the con- 
servative men of all parties. You see the posture of public af- 
fairs ; you see the condition of the country ; you see along the 
line of battle the various points of conflict ; you see the struggle 
which the Union men have to maintain in many of the States. 
You ought to know and feel what is necessary to sustain those 
who, in their hearts, desire the preservation of this Union of 
States. "Will you sit with stoic indifference, and see those who 
are willing to stand by the Constitution and uphold the pillars of 
the Government, driven away by the raging surges that are now 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 139 

sweeping over some portions of the country ? As conservative 
men, as patriots, as men who desire the preservation of this great, 
this good, this unparalleled Government, I ask you to save the 
country ; or let the propositions be submitted to the people, that 
the heart of the nation may respond to them. I have an abiding 
confidence in the intelligence, the patriotism, and the integrity of 
the great mass of the people ; and I feel in my own heart that, if 
this subject could be got before them, they would settle the ques- 
tion, and the Union of these States would be preserved." [Ap- 
plause in the galleries.] 

If ever there was presented an instance of high moral 
sublimity, it was in the case of Andrew Johnson, the only- 
man in the Senate, from the eleven States lying south of 
Maryland and Kentucky and Missouri, who stood up and 
battled for the Union, unawecl by the odium and the 
obloquy, the frowns and denunciations, which he knew 
would be visited upon him. And what was more, he saw 
his own State, Tennessee, that he loved so well, was to be 
drifted from her moorings on this tide of disunion. How 
bitter must have been his reflections, when he saw that 
people, who had so often honored and sustained him, 
yielding to the moral pestilence which swept over the 
South! He warned them, he plead with them, he be- 
sought them, but he would not accompany them in their 
onslaught on that Government and Union which was the 
gift of their fathers, which was purchased by their valor, 
reared by their wisdom, and cemented with their blood. 
He knew, however, there was a band of heroes and 
patriots, amid Tennessee's eastern mountains, on whom he 
might rely. There, like Tell in the mountains of Swit- 
zerland, when pursued by the Austrian tyrant, he raised 
his country's standard, and amid the gorges and fastnesses 
of her mountains he kept the flag of the Union flying. 

Mr. Lincoln had been regularly elected President of 



14:0 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

the United States, according to the forms and require- 
ments of the Constitution and the laws. Mr. Johnson 
had warmly supported Mr. Breckinridge, but having been 
fairly beaten in the election, he was in favor of acquies- 
cing in the popular decision. He was unwilling for history 
to record the fact that he favored disunion, because he 
and his party had been defeated in an election. It was 
not because of any sympathy he felt for the antislavery 
sentiment of the North (as has been falsely intimated) that 
he was for quietly submitting to Mr. Lincoln's election. 
The record proves this. For in December, 1860, he 
warmly supported and vigorously urged additional guar- 
anties for the institution of slavery, in a series of resolu- 
tions which were referred to the Committee of Thirteen. 
He was as anxious to avoid a collision as he was to pre- 
serve the Union. He ardently supported the Crittenden 
compromise measures, and taunted the secession members 
of the Senate with their loss, in their refusing to vote, 
when by their votes they might have secured the passage 
of those compromises. The compromise having failed, and 
many of the Southern States having " seceded," Mr. John- 
son saw that a conflict was inevitable. He saw that old 
party issues were dead— that old party relations were thus 
obliterated ; and that henceforth the only issue was Union 
and disunion. In his speech in February, referred to, he 
said : "I am for preserving the Union ; and if it is to be 
done on constitutional terms, I am ready to stand by any 
and every man, without ashing Ms antecedents, or fearing 
what may take place hereafter." 

It was charged against Mr. Johnson, that he had been 
induced to adhere to the Government because of hatred 
and dislike to certain leading Southern men, and from a 
desire to wreak his vengeance on certain political and 
personal enemies in Tennessee. The record proves this 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 141 

to have been a foul slander. Even after the war had 
fairly commenced, and blood been shed, Mr. Johnson, so 
far from wishing the war to be waged to extremity — so far 
from desiring it to be carried on with cruelty and ferocity, 
actually insisted on its being conducted within the bounds 
of moderation, and to be confined to the sole purpose of 
"defending and maintaining the supremacy of the Con- 
stitution, and the preservation of the Union." So import- 
ant is it considered to the vindication of Mr. Johnson's 
consistency, and freedom from all personal bitterness in 
his course, that a resolution offered by him in the Senate 
on the 26th July, 1861, is here given : 

" Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced 
upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now 
in revolt against the constitutional Government, and in arms 
around the Capitol; that in this national emergency, Congress, 
banishing all feeling of mere passion or resentment, will recollect 
only its duty to the whole country ; that this war is not prosecuted 
on our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of con- 
quest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of authorizing or inter- 
fering with the rights or established institutions of those States ; 
but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and 
all laws made in pursuance thereof, and to preserve the Union, with 
all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired ; 
and that, as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought 

:ease." 

This resolution was passed, by a vote of 30 to 5. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Speech on the Joint Resolution to make valid certain acts of President Lin- 
coln—Philosophy of the Speech— Efforts of Southern Members to get out 
of Congress before a Compromise could be made — Charge that the Free 
States would amend the Constitution when in a Majority, and abolish 
Slavery — How did Congress do ? — Fixed Purpose to break up the Govern- 
ment — Real Cause — We must Succeed. 

On the 27th of July, 1861, Mr. Johnson delivered a 
very able speech on the joint resolution to confirm and 
make valid certain acts of President Lincoln for "sup- 
pressing insurrection," etc. In his course on this question, 
he acted on the same practical principles of common sense 
by which he is uniformly guided in cases of difficulty. 
He refused to meet any issues of technicality tendered to 
him, where the real question was the salvation of the 
Government itself. The philosophy of the speech seemed 
to consist in this : that the Constitution having imposed 
on the President the duty to see the laws faithfully 
executed, some latitude of discretion must be allowed him, 
where there is no precedent to govern, and when the pur- 
pose is to save the Constitution from destruction ; that 
the most liberal construction of the Constitution must be 
tolerated, where the object is to preserve it from ruin; 
that there was no violation of the oath to support the 
Constitution, where the great leading paramount object 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Mr. Johnson's Position on the Slavery Question — The very Men under whose 
Administration the Institution should disappear — The Truth of History — 
How was the Slavery Agitation kept up at the South ? — Circumstances 
attending the Inauguration of the Conflict — Union Men in the South — 
Action of Mr. Buchanan — Effect on the South — Position of Mr. Lincoln — 
What it cost in the South to be a Union Man — Peelings of the Southern 
People. 

On the score of slavery, there is nothing which Mr. 
Johnson has to take back — nothing for which either he or 
his friends can reproach themselves. As long as slavery 
had a constitutional and legal existence, as long as the 
slave-owners of the South had a right of property in their 
slaves, Mr. Johnson never failed to defend and maintain 
the institution itself, and those who had rights under it, 
when he considered them unfairly or untruthfully attacked. 
What does this prove % That he is no bigot, no one-idea 
man on the subject of slavery. In fact, taking his whole 
course on the question of slavery into consideration, does it 
not give him an additional claim to the confidence and esteem 
of the people of the country ? It shows that in his public 
action he has not been moved by partiality for, or by preju- 
dice against slavery and slave-owners. Ever ready to defend 
both if wrongfully attacked, as long as they were under the 
protection of the laws, yet willing and earnest in eradicat- 
ing slavery from the land as soon as he saw its further 
11 



242 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

toleration was inconsistent with the preservation of peace 
and harmony between the two sections — no man ever 
gave higher evidence of enlarged statesmanship and 
patriotism than Mr. Johnson has on this very question of 
slavery. The record proves that in his conduct, in his 
adaptation to the force of the circumstances surrounding 
him, he has lifted himself high above the influences of 
passion, of prejudice, of sectional spite, and has squared 
his course according to the impulses of duty — not of duty 
to a section, but to the whole country — not to the protec- 
tion of one interest, but to all the diversified interests of 
this great and powerful Republic. 

Mr. Johnson's peculiar position on this question of sla- 
very renders him the very man under whose administra- 
tion the institution of slavery should die out and disap- 
pear. As already said, his present views are known not 
to be the result of prejudice or sectional ill will, but from 
the conviction that the further existence of slavery was 
impossible. How much better that a man of known mod- 
eration of character and opinions should be intrusted with 
the settlement of all the delicate and complicated questions 
growing out of the changed relations of the two races ! 
Mr. Johnson stands as a connecting link between the 
North and the South. He knows the African character ; 
he knows the difficulties the future is likely to present ; he 
knows how and to what extent slavery, as an institution, is 
responsible for the war just terminated. In reference to 
this last point — the responsibility of slavery and slave- 
owners in bringing on the war — there are facts and consid- 
erations connected with it not generally understood, and, 
where understood, not always duly weighed and con- 
sidered. As Mr. Johnson's course in the arrangement and 
settlement of the details of this system of emancipation 
may very much be modified or influenced by his knowl- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 143 

was to conform to its spirit, in order to maintain and 
defend its integrity and its very life. He said : 

" I agree with the Senator from Kentucky, that there was a 
design — a deliberate determination — to change the nature and 
character of our Government. Yes, sir, it has been the design for 
a long time. All the talk about slavery and compromise has been 
but a pretext. We had a long disquisition, and a very feeling one, 
from the Senator from Kentucky. He became pathetic in the 
hopelessness of compromises. Did not the Senator from Califor- 
nia [Mr. Latham] the other day show unmistakably that it was not 
compromise they wanted? I will add, that compromise was the 
thing they most feared ; and their great effort was to get out of 
Congress before any compromise could be made. At first, their 
cry was peaceable secession and reconstruction. They talked not 
of compromise; and, I repeat, their greatest dread and fear was, 
that something would be agreed upon ; that their last and only 
pretext would be swept from under them, and that they would 
stand before the country naked and exposed. 

" The Senator from California pointed out to you a number of 
them who stood here and did not vote for certain propositions, 
and those propositions were lost. What was the action before the 
Committee of Thirteen ? Why did not that committee agree ? 
Some of the most ultra men from the North were members of 
that committee, and they proposed to amend the Constitution so 
as to provide that Congress in the future never should interfere 
with the subject of slavery. The committee failed to agree, and 
some of its members at once telegraphed to their States that they 
must go out of the Union at once. But after all that transpired 
in the early part of the session, what was done ? We know what 
the argument has been ; in times gone by I have met it ; I have 
htard it again and again. It has been said that one great object 
was, first to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia and the 
slave trade W.ween the States, as a kind of initiative measure ; 
next, to exclude it Iwm the Territories ; and when the free States 
were three-fourths of all the States, so as to have power to change 
the Constitution, they v *ild amend the Constitution so as to give 



144 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Congress power to legislate upon the subject of slavery in the 
States, and expel it from the States in which it is now. Has not 
that been the argument ? Now, how does the matter stand ? At 
the last session of Congress seven States withdrew — it may be 
said that eight withdrew — reducing the remaining slave States 
down to one-fourth of the whole number of States. Now we 
have reached the point at which the charge has been made, that 
whenever the free States constituted a majority in the Congress of 
the United States, sufficient to amend the Constitution, they would 
so amend it as to legislate upon the institution of slavery within 
the States, and that the institution of slavery would be overthrown. 
This has been the argument ; it has been repeated again and 
again ; and hence the great struggle about the Territories. The 
argument was, we wanted to prevent the creation of free States ; 
we did not want to be reduced down to that point where, under 
the sixth article of the Constitution, three-fourths could amend the 
Constitution so as to exclude slavery from the States. This has 
been the great point ; this has been the rampart ; this has been 
the very point to which it has been urged that the free States 
wanted to pass. Now, how does the fact stand ? Let us ' render 
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.' We reached, at the last 
session, just the point where we were in the power of the free 
States ; and then what was done ? Instead of an amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States conferring power upon Con- 
gress to legislate upon the subject of slavery, what was done ? 
This joint resolution was passed by a two-thirds majority in each 
House : 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That the following article be proposed to 
the Legislatures of the several States, as an amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, 
shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution, viz- . 

1 Art. 13. No amendment shall be made to the Constitution wb-^& shall 
authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish, or interfere within any 
State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to 
service or labor by the laws of said State,' 

" Is not that very conclusive ? Her^is an amendment to the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 145 

Constitution of the United States to make the Constitution una- 
lnendable upon that subject, as it is upon some other subjects ; 
that Congress, in the future, should have no power to legislate on 
the subject of slavery within the States. Talk about ' compromise,' 
and about the settlement of this question ; how can you settle it 
more substantially ? How can you get a guaranty that is more 
binding than an amendment to the Constitution, which is una- 
mendable, that Congress, in the future, shall not even legislate on 
the subject ? This places the institution of slavery in the States 
entirely beyond the control of Congress. Why have not the Legis- 
latures that talk about 'reconstruction' and 'compromise' and 
'guaranties,' taken up this amendment to the Constitution and 
adopted it ? Some States have adopted it. How many Southern 
States have done so ? Take my own State, for instance. Instead 
of accepting guaranties protecting them in all future time against 
the legislation of Congress on the subject of slavery, they under- 
take to pass ordinances violating the Constitution of the country, 
and taking the State out of the Union and into the Southern Con- 
federacy. It is evident to me that with many the talk about com- 
promise and the settlement of this question is mere pretext, espe- 
cially with those who understand the question. 

" All the compromise that I have to make is the compromise 
of the Constitution of the United States. It is one of the best 
compromises that can be made. We lived under it from 1789 
down to the 20th of December, 1860, when South Carolina un- 
dertook to go out of the Union. We prospered ; we advanced in 
wealth, in commerce, in agriculture, in trade, in manufactures, in 
all the arts and sciences, and in religion, more than any people 
upon the face of God's earth had ever done before in the same 
time. What better compromise do you want ? You lived under 
it until you got to be a great and prosperous people. It was made 
by our fathers, and cemented by their blood. When you talk to 
me about compromise, I hold up to you the Constitution under 
which you derived all your greatness, and which was made by the 
fathers of your country. It will protect you in all your rights. 

" But it is said that we had better divide the country and make a 
7 



146 LITE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

treaty and restore peace. If, under the Constitution which was 
framed by "Washington and Madison and the patriots of the Revo- 
lution, we cannot live as brothers, as we have in times gone by, I ask 
can we live quietly under a treaty, separated as enemies ? The same 
causes will exist ; our geographical and physical position will re- 
main just the same. Suppose you make a treaty of peace and 
division : if the same causes of irritation, if the same causes of 
division continue to exist, and we carmot live as brothers in fra- 
ternity under the Constitution made by our fathers, and as friends 
in the same Government, how can we live in peace as aliens and 
enemies under a treaty ? It cannot be done ; it is impracticable. 

" I say it is the paramount duty of this Government to assert 
its power and maintain its integrity. I say it is the duty of this 
Government to protect those States, or the loyal citizens of those 
States, in the enjoyment of a republican form of government ; for 
we have seen one continued system of usurpation carried on, from 
one end of these Southern States to the other, disregarding the 
popular judgment ; disregarding the popular will ; setting at defi- 
ance the judgment of the people ; disregarding their rights ; 
paying no attention to their State constitutions in any sense 
whatever. We are bound, under the Constitution, to protect 
those States and their citizens. We are bound to guarantee 
to them a republican form of government; it is our duty to 
do it. If we have got no Government, let the delusion be dis- 
pelled ; let the dream pass away ; and let the people of the 
United States, and the nations of the earth, know at once that we 
have no Government. If we have a Government, based on the in- 
telligence and virtue of the American people, let that great fact be 
now established, and once established, this Government will be on 
a more enduring and permanent basis than it ever was before. I 
still have confidence in the integrity, the virtue, the intelligence, and 
the patriotism of the great mass of the people ; and so believing, I 
intend to stand by the Government of my fathers to the last extremity. 

" Is the mere defeat of one man, and the election of another, 
according to the forms of law and the Constitution, sufficient 
cause to break up this Government? No; it is not sufficient 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 147 

cause. Do we not know, too, that if all the seceding Senators 
had stood here as faithful sentinels, representing the interests of 
their States, they had it in their power to check any advance that 
might be made by the incoming administration ? I showed these 
facts, and enumerated them at the last session. They were shown 
here the other day. On the 4th of March, when President Lin- 
coln was inaugurated, we had a majority of six upon this floor in 
opposition to his administration. Where, then, is there even a 
pretext for breaking up the Government upon the idea that he 
would have encroached upon our rights ? Does not the nation 
know that even Mr. Lincoln could not have made his Cabinet 
without the consent of the majority of the Senate ? Do we not 
know that he could not even have sent a minister abroad without 
the majority of the Senate confirming the nomination ? Do we 
not know that if any minister whom he sent abroad should make a 
treaty inimical to the institutions of the South, that treaty could not 
have been ratified without a majority of two-thirds of the Senate ? 

" With all these facts staring them in the face, where is the 
pretence for breaking up this Government ? Is it not clear that 
there has been a fixed purpose, a settled design to break up the 
Government and change the nature and character and whole genius 
of the Government itself? Does it not prove conclusively, as there 
was no cause, that they simply selected it as an occasion that was 
favorable to excite the prejudices of the South, and thereby enable 
them to break up this Government and establish a Southern Con- 
federacy. 

"Then when we get at it, what is the real cause? If Mr. 
Davis had been elected President of the "United States, it would 
have been a very nice thing ; he would have respected the judg- 
ment of the people, and no doubt his confidence in their capacity 
for self-government would have been increased ; but it so happened 
that he was not elected. They thought proper to elect somebody 
else, according to law and the Constitution. Then, as all parties 
had done heretofore, it was the duty of the whole people to acqui- 
esce ; if he made a good President, sustain him ; if he became a 
bad one, condemn him ; if he violated the law and the Constitution, 



148 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

impeach him. We had our remedy under the Constitution and in 
the Union. 

" What is the real cause ? Disappointed ambition ; an un- 
hallowed ambition. Certain men could not wait any longer, and 
they seized this occasion to do what they had been wanting to do 
for a long time — break up the Government. If they could not 
rule a large country, they thought they might rule a small one. 
Hence one of the prime movers in the Senate ceased to be a 
Senator, and passed out to be President of the Southern Confeder- 
acy. Another, that was bold enough on this floor to proclaim 
himself a rebel, retired as a Senator, and became secretary of state. 
All perfectly disinterested, no ambition about it ! Another, Mr. 
Benjamin, of Louisiana — one that understands something about 
the idea of dividing garments ; who belongs to that tribe that 
parted the garments of our Saviour, and for his vesture cast lots — 
went out of this body and was made attorney-general, to show his 
patriotism and disinterestedness — nothing else ! Mr. Slidell, dis- 
interested altogether, is to go as minister to France. I might 
enumerate many such instances. This is all patriotism, pure dis- 
interestedness ! Do we not see where it all ends ? Disappointed, 
impatient, unhallowed ambition. There has been no cause for 
breaking up this Government, there have been no rights denied, 
no privileges trampled upon under the Constitution and Union, 
that might not have been remedied more effectually in the Union 
than outside of it. 

" What rights are to be attained outside of the Union ? The 
seceders have violated the Constitution, trampled it under foot; 
and what is their condition now ? Upon the abstract idea that 
they had a right to secede, they have gone out ; and what is the 
consequence ? Oppression, taxation, blood, and civil war. They 
reasoned upon the principle of a madman, who happened to dis- 
cover somehow that man had dominion over the beasts of the 
forest ; and because he had, he said he had a right to shear a wolf. 
A friend remonstrated with him, and asked him if he had con- 
sidered the danger and the difficulty of the attempt to shear a 
wolf ; and after the shearing was over, what would it be worth ? 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 149 

' Oil no,' said he, in the midst of his frenzy and madness, ' I have 
a right to shear a wolf, and therefore I will shear a wolf.' Yes, 
they have sheared the wolf, and what has come ? They have gone 
out of the Union; and, I repeat again, they have got taxes, 
usurpations, blood, and civil war. 

" Since I left my home, having only one way to leave the State 
through two or three passes coming out through Cumberland Gap, 
I have been advised that they had even sent their armies to block- 
ade these passes in the mountains, as they say, to prevent Johnson 
from returning with arms and munitions to place in the hands of 
the people to vindicate their rights, repel invasion, and put down 
domestic insurrection and rebellion. Yes, sir, there they stand in 
arms, environing a population of three hundred and twenty-five 
thousand loyal, brave, patriotic, and unsubdued people ; but yet 
powerless, and not in a condition to vindicate their rights. Hence 
I come to the Government, and I do not ask it as a suppliant, but 
I demand it as a constitutional right, that you give us protection, 
give us arms and munitions ; and if they cannot be got there in 
any other way, to take them there with an invading army, and 
deliver the people from the oppression to which they are now sub- 
jected. We claim to be the State. The other divisions may have 
seceded and gone off; and if this Government will stand by and 
permit those portions of the State to go off, and not enforce the 
laws and protect the loyal citizens there, we cannot help it; but we 
still claim to be the State, and if two-thirds have fallen off, or have 
been sunk by an earthquake, it does not change our relation to 
this Government. If the Government will let them go, and not 
give us protection, the fault is not ours ; but if you will give us 
protection, we intend to stand as a State, as a part of this Con- 
federacy, holding to the flag that was borne by Washington 
through a seven years' struggle for independence and separation 
from the mother country. We demand it according to law ; we 
demand it upon the guaranties of the Constitution. You are 
bound to guarantee to us a republican form of government, and we 
ask it as a constitutional right. We do not ask you to interfere as 
a party, as your feelings or prejudices may be one way or another 



150 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

in reference to the parties of the country ; but we ask you to inter- 
fere as a Government according to the Constitution. Of course we 
want your sympathy, and your regard, and your respect ; but we 
ask your interference on constitutional grounds. 

" The amendments to the Constitution, which constitute the 
bill of rights, declare that ' a well-regulated militia being neces- 
sary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to 
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.' Our people are de- 
nied this right secured to them in their own constitution and the 
Constitution of the United States; yet we hear no complaints 
here of violations of the Constitution in this respect. We ask 
the Government to interpose to secure us this constitutional right. 
"We want the passes in our mountains opened, we want deliver- 
ance and protection for a downtrodden and oppressed people who 
are struggling for their independence without arms. If we had 
had ten thousand stand of arms and ammunition when the con- 
test commenced, we should have asked no further assistance. We 
have not got them. We are a rural people ; we have villages and 
small towns — no large cities. Our population is homogeneous, 
industrious, frugal, brave, independent; but harmless and power- 
less, and rode over by usurpers. You may be too late in coming 
to our relief; or you may not come at all, though I do not doubt 
that you will come ; they may trample us under foot ; they may 
convert our plains into graveyards, and the caves of our moun- 
tains into sepulchres ; but they will never take us out of this 
Union, or make us a land of slaves — no, never. We intend to 
stand as firm as adamant, and as unyielding as our own majestic 
mountains that surround us." Yes, we will profit by their exam- 
ple, resting immovably upon their basis. We will stand as long 
as we can ; and if we are overpowered, and liberty shall be driven 
from the land, we intend before she departs, to take the flag of 
our country, with a stalwart arm, and a patriotic heart, and an 
honest tread, and place it upon the summit of the loftiest and 
most majestic mountain. We intend to plant it there, and leave 
it, to indicate to the inquirer who may come in after times, the 
sp^t where the Goddess of Liberty lingered and wept for the last 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 151 

time, before she took her flight from a people once prosperous^ 
free, and happy. 

We ask the Government to come to our aid. We love the 
Constitution as made by our fathers. We have confidence in the 
integrity and capacity of the' people to govern themselves. We 
have lived entertaining these opinions ; we intend to die entertain- 
ing them. The battle has commenced, The President has placed 
it upon the true ground. It is an issue on the one hand for the 
people's Government, and its overthrow on the other. We have 
commenced the battle of freedom. It is freedom's cause. We 
are resisting usurpation and oppression. We will triumph ; we 
must triumph. Eight is with us. A great and fundamental prin- 
ciple of right, that lies at the foundation of all things, is with us. 
We may meet with impediments, and may meet with disasters, 
and here and there a defeat ; but ultimately freedom's cause must 
triumph, for — 

1 Freedom's battle once begun, 
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, 
Though baffled oft, is ever won.' 

" Yes, we must triumph. Though sometimes I cannot see 
my way clear in matters of this kind, as in matters of religion, 
when my facts give out, when my reason fails me, I draw largely 
upon my faith. My faith is strong, based on the eternal princi- 
ples of right, that a thing so monstrously wrong as this rebellion 
is, cannot triumph. Can we submit to it ? Can bleeding justice 
submit to it ? Is the Senate, are the American people, prepared 
to give up the graves of Washington and Jackson, to be encircled 
and governed and controlled by a combination of traitors and 
rebels ? I say let the battle go on — it is freedom's cause — until 
the Stars and Stripes (God bless them !) shall again be unfurled 
upon every cross-road and from every house-top throughout the 
Confederacy, North and South. Let the Union be reinstated; 
let the law be enforced ; let the Constitution be supreme. 

" If the Congress of the United States were to give up the 
tombs of Washington and Jackson, we should have rising up in 
our midst another Peter the Hermit, in a much more righteous 



152 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

cause — for ours is true, while his was a delusion — who would ap- 
peal to the American people and point to the tombs of Wash- 
ington and Jackson, in the possession of those who are worse 
than the infidel and the Turk who held the Holy Sepulchre. I 
believe the American people would start of their own accord, 
when appealed to, to redeem the graves of Washington and Jack- 
son and Jefferson, and all the other patriots who are lying within 
the limits of the Southern Confederacy. I do not believe they 
would stop the march, until again the flag of this Union would 
be placed over the graves of those distinguished men. There 
will be an uprising. Do not talk about Republicans now ; do not 
talk about Democrats now ; do not talk about Whigs or Ameri- 
cans now ; talk about your country and the Constitution and the 
Union. Save that ; preserve the integrity of the Government ; 
once more place it erect among the nations of the earth ; and 
then if we want to divide about questions that may arise in our 
midst, we have a Government to divide in. 

" I know it has been said that the object of this war is to 
make war on Southern institutions. I have been in free States 
and I have been in slave States, and I thank God that, so far as I 
have been, there has been one universal disclaimer of any such 
purpose. It is a war upon no section ; it is a war upon no pe- 
culiar institution ; but it is a war for the integrity of the Govern- 
ment, for the Constitution, and the supremacy of the laws. That 
is what the nation understands by it. 

" I have already detained the Senate much longer than I in- 
tended when I rose, and I shall conclude in a few words more. 
Although the Government has met with a little reverse within a 
short distance of this city, no one should be discouraged and no 
heart should be dismayed. It ought only to prove the necessity 
of bringing forth and exerting still more vigorously the power of 
the Government in maintenance of the Constitution and the laws. 
Let the energies of the Government be redoubled, and let it go 
on with this war — not a war upon sections, not a war upon pe- 
culiar institutions anywhere; but let the Constitution and the 
Union be its frontispiece, and the supremacy and enforcement of 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 153 

the laws its watchword. Then it can, it will, go on triumphantly. 
We must succeed. This Government must not, cannot fail. 
Though your flag may have trailed in the dust ; though a retro- 
grade movement may have been made ; though the banner of our 
country may have been sullied, let it still be borne onward ; and 
if, for the prosecution of this war in behalf of the Government 
and the Constitution, it is necessary to cleanse and purify that 
banner, I say let it be baptized in fire from the sun and bathed in 
a nation's blood ! The nation must be redeemed ; it must be tri- 
umphant. The Constitution — which is based upon principles im 
mutable, and upon which rest the rights of man and the hopes 
and expectations of those who love freedom throughout the civil- 
ized world — must be maintained." 



CHAPTEK XII. 

Addresses to the People of Kentucky and Ohio — Appointed Military Governor 
of Tennessee— Appeal to the People of that State— Its Spirit— His Strin- 
gent Rule as Military Governor— State of Affairs around him— His Firm- 
ness when Nashville was threatened — Opposes the Evacuation of the City 
— Conferences with President Lincoln on the Reorganization of the State 
Government — His Yiew of the Status of Tennessee — Proclamation for an 
Election — Letter Accepting the Nomination as Vice-President — Speech on 
the Capture of Richmond — Assassination of President Lincoln — Mr. John- 
son becomes President — His Remarks on taking the Oath of Office — Re- 
ception of the British Minister. 

On his return home, from attending an extra session, in 
September, 1861, Mr. Johnson was frequently called on to 
address the people in Ohio and Kentucky and other places. 
He aroused and encouraged the Union men to stand firm, 
and did much toward organizing and strengthening the 
Union feeling wherever he went. 

In the winter of 1862, the Federal forces having cap- 
tured Forts Henry and Donelson, on the advance of Gen- 
eral Buell the Confederate forces were compelled to aban- 
don Nashville. Thus Tennessee was in a great degree 
recovered to the authority of the United States. Mr. Lin- 
coln therefore appointed Mr. Johnson Military Governor 
of Tennessee. Mr. Johnson left his seat in the Senate, to 
enter upon the duties of his office, in March, 1862. He was 
received with enthusiasm by the Union men of Nashville 
on his arrival there ; and on being serenaded, delivered to 
them a cheering and consoling address. In a few days 
afterwards he issued an " Appeal to the People " of Ten- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 155 

nessee. It is a State paper of great merit, written in line 
style, in good temper, and possessing unusual clearness and 
force. The following extracts exhibit the spirit that per- 
vades it : 

" The State government has disappeared. The executive has 
abdicated ; the judiciary is in abeyance. The great ship of State, 
freighted with its precious cargo of human interests and human 
hopes, its sails all set, and its glorious old flag unfurled, has been 
suddenly abandoned by its officers and mutinous crew, and left to 
float at the mercy of the winds, and to be plundered by every rover 
upon the deep. 

" In such a lamentable crisis, the Government of the United 
States could not be unmindful of its high constitutional obligation 
to guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of 
government, an obligation which every State has a direct and im- 
mediate interest in having observed toward every other State, and 
from which, by no action on the part of the people in any State, 
can the Federal Government be absolved. A republican form of 
government, in consonance with the Constitution of the United 
States, is one of the fundamental conditions of our political exist- 
ence, by which every part of the country is alike bound, and from 
which no part can escape. 

" To the people themselves, the protection of the Government 
is extended. All their rights will be duly respected, and their 
wrongs redressed, when made known. Those who, through the 
dark and dreary night of the rebellion, have maintained their alle- 
giance to the Federal Government, will be honored. The erring 
and misguided will be welcomed on their return. And while it 
may become necessary, in vindicating the violated majesty of the 
law, and in reasserting its imperial sway, to punish intelligent and 
conscious treason in high places, no merely retaliatory or vindictive 
policy will be adopted. To those especially who, in a private, 
unofficial capacity, have assumed an attitude of hostility to the 
Government, a full and complete amnesty for all past acts and 
declarations is offered, upon the one condition of their again yield- 
ing themselves peaceful citizens to the just supremany of the laws." 



156 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

It is admitted that President Johnson's rule, whilst 
acting as Military Governor, was stringent, and in many 
instances apparently severe. But no other course was left 
him. Dire necessity forced it on him. Nothing but a 
positive, decided, and unequivocal line of conduct would 
have answered the requirements of the occasion. There 
was a larger Union element in Tennessee than in any other 
State that had formally resorted to disunion. Not only 
was the State at war with the Government of the United 
States, but the people of the State — the loyal and disloyal 
— were at war with each other. Scenes of violence, of 
outrage, rapine, and plunder were constantly being per- 
petrated. The civil law was in abeyance. Lawless force 
controlled every thing. Governor Johnson saw it was 
utterly useless to rely on the slow process of legal proceed- 
ings where anarchy prevailed. From the force of necessity 
he was compelled to act the part of a dictator in order to 
save the State from wreck and ruin. He saw the wound 
from which the community was suffering required the 
actual cautery, and he applied it without hesitation. Being 
appointed Military Governor for the purpose of saving the 
Union, of course he was bound to protect Union men. 
He ordered the mayor and council of Nashville to take 
the oath of allegiance to the United States, and, on their 
refusal, they were incarcerated. He placed the press under 
restraint against the utterance of treasonable and seditious 
language. He issued his proclamation, declaring that 
whenever a Union man was maltreated by the lawless 
bands engaged in the rebellion that were ravaging the 
country, five or more of the sympathizers with the rebel- 
lion, living in the neighborhood, should be arrested, and 
dealt with as the nature of the case might require ; and 
where the property of loyal citizens was taken or destroyed, 
remuneration should be made to them from the property 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 157 

of those favoring the rebellion. In some instances he 
arrested and imprisoned judges, to prevent them from any 
judicial interference with his executive functions. 

These were disagreeable and painful duties Governor 
Johnson had to perform, but force and arbitrary will being 
the only instruments available for the protection of life, 
liberty, or property, no other course was left to him. If he 
had hesitated or temporized, he would have been swept 
away into the abyss of that social chaos that then pre- 
vailed. His boldness, firmness, and self-reliance sustained 
him in this hour of trial. He knew if he faltered, he would 
be lost. He resolved that, if fall he must, he would fall in 
the discharge of his duty. 

For several months during the year 1862, Nashville 
was in a very precarious and alarming condition. The 
Confederate army having invaded Kentucky, and cut off 
the communications with the North by destroying the rail- 
roads, Nashville was left isolated for the time being. 
Provisions became very scarce, prices were very high, and 
great want and suffering prevailed. Governor Johnson 
never displayed his manliness, his force of character, and 
his capacity for managing men more strikingly than at this 
time. Whilst many were in despair, his courage never 
forsook him. He was determined to stay in Nashville, and 
to die there, if need be, rather than desert his post. He went 
everywhere, he saw every thing. He congratulated the 
bold, he cheered the despondent, he exhorted the wavering, 
and he warned the suspicious. He saw in suffering and 
distress the families of many who had left the city, either 
to secure their persons or to join the rebel army. As a 
humane man, he felt for them in their distress. He did not, 
from a feeling of vengeance, leave them to die of hunger. 
But he issued a peremptory order, assessing the sym- 
pathizers with the rebellion in Nashville (who were able to 



158 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

pay it) a certain amount per head, to be distributed by the 
judge of the county court among the destitute families 
of such persons above mentioned. 

In the fall of 1862, Geueral Buell, having reached 
Nashville, and being then chief in command, proposed to 
evacuate the city. Governor Johnson would not hear to 
this. He was indignant at the thought of giving up this 
stronghold after having held it so long aud at such great 
sacrifice. He saw that the abandonment of Nashville 
would be the virtual surrender of Tennessee to the rebel 
arms. He requested of Mr. Lincoln the removal of Gen- 
eral Buell. General Buell was removed, and under the 
command of General Negley the attack upon the city was 
repulsed. Governor Johnson, though no military man, 
took a deep interest in every thing going on. It was on 
this occasion that he made the celebrated remark, " I am 
no military man, but the first one who talks of surrender- 
ing I will shoot ! " In October of this year (1862) Gov- 
ernor Johnson's family rejoined him in Nashville from the 
eastern part of the State, after a very disagreeable and 
perilous journey, beset with trials and dangers from guer- 
rillas and roving bands of lawless men. 

In the spring and again in the fall of 1863, Governor 
Johnson visited Washington, to confer with President Lin- 
coln as to the proper mode and manner of reorganizing the 
State government of Tennessee so as to enable her to re- 
sume her rightful position in the Union. The rebel forces 
having been driven from nearly every part of the State, the 
people began to rise up and give free expression to their 
Union sentiments. Mass conventions were held in various 
places, many of which Governor Johnson attended, and 
addressed the people. He encouraged them to persevere, 
pledging himself to stand by and sustain them, and to abide 
their fate. The following extracts from an address of Gov- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 159 

ernor Johnson will explain what was then his view 
in regard to the status of Tennessee and the course 
proper to be pursued in restoring her to her place in the 
Union : 

" Tennessee is not out of the Union, never has been, and never 
will be out. The bonds of the Constitution and the Federal 
power will always prevent that. This Government is perpetual ; 
provision is made for reforming the Government and amending 
the Constitution, and admitting States into the Union — not for 
letting them out of it. 

" Whenever you desire, in good faith, to restore civil authority, 
you can do so, and a proclamation for an election will be issued as 
speedily as it is practicable to hold one. One by one all the 
agencies of your State government will be put in motion. A 
Legislature will be elected ; judges will be appointed temporarily 
until you can elect them at the polls ; and so of sheriffs, county 
court judges, justices, and other officers, until the way is fairly 
open for the people and all the parts of civil government resume 
their ordinary functions. This is no nice, intricate, metaphysical 
question. It is a plain, common-sense matter, and there is nothing 
in the way but obstinacy." 

On the 26th of January, 1864, Governor Johnson issued 
his proclamation for an election in the State, preparatory 
to the reorganization of the State government. On the 
6th of June, at the nominating convention in Baltimore, 
Governor Johnson was unanimously nominated for Yice- 
President on the ticket with Mr. Lincoln, who was nom- 
inated for President. When the news reached Nashville, 
it was received with great demonstrations of joy and en- 
thusiasm. An immense meeting of the people was called, 
which was addressed by Governor Johnson. In the course 
of his remarks he said : 

" While society is in this disordered state, and we are seeking 
security, let us fix the foundations of our Government on princi- 



160 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

pies of eternal justice, which will endure for all time. There are 
those in our midst who are for perpetuating the institution of 
slavery. Let me say to you, Tennesseeans, an men from the 
Northern States, that slavery is dead. It was not murdered by 
me. I told you long ago what the result would be if you endeav- 
ored to go out of the Union to save slavery ; and that the result 
would be bloodshed, rapine, devastated fields, plundered villages 
and cities ; and therefore I urged you to remain in the Union. In 
trying to save slavery you killed it, and lost your own freedom. 
As Macbeth said to Banquo's bloody ghost — 

' Never shake thy gory locks at me ; 
Thou canst not say I did it.' " 

In a letter to Hon. William Dennison, chairman of the 
committee, etc., accepting the nomination for the Yice- 
Presidency, Governor Johnson said : 

" The authority of the Government is supreme, and will admit 
of no rivalry. No institution can rise above it, whether it be 
slavery or any organized power. In our happy form of govern- 
ment all must be subordinate to the will of the people, when re- 
flected through the Constitution and laws made pursuant thereto 
— State or Federal. This great principle lies at the foundation of 
every Government, and cannot be disregarded without the destruc- 
tion of the Government itself. 

" In accepting the nomination I might here close, but I cannot 
forego the opportunity of saying to my old friends of the Demo- 
cratic party proper, with whom I have so long and pleasantly been 
associated, that the hour has now come when that great party can 
justly vindicate its devotion to true democratic policy and meas- 
ures of expediency. The war is a war of great principles. It in- 
volves the supremacy and life of the Government itself. If the 
rebellion triumphs, free government — North and South — fails. If, 
on the other hand, the Government is successful, as I do not 
doubt, its destiny is fixed, its basis permanent and enduring, and 
its career of honor and glory just begun. In a great contest like 
this, for the existence of free government, the path of duty is 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 161 

patriotism and principle. Minor considerations and questions of 
administrative policy should give way to the higher duty of first 
preserving the Government, and then there will be time enough to 
wrangle over the men and measures pertaining to its administra- 
tion." 

The result of the Presidential election of 1864 is well 
known to the reader. Lincoln and Johnson received the 
votes of every State that voted in the election except New 
Jersey, Kentucky, and Delaware. On the 4th March, 
1865, Mr. Johnson was duly qualified as Yice-President, 
and took his seat, as presiding officer of the Senate. The 
war was now speedily approaching a termination. When 
the news reached Washington of the taking of Richmond 
and Petersburg by the Federal army, there was great re- 
joicing. The friends of the Union were wild with delight. 
Mr. Johnson made a speech on the occasion to the vast 
concourse that called on him. It was a speech of great 
power and eloquence, teeming with the most patriotic sen- 
timents, and national and conservative in tone and temper. 
The following extracts are given from this speech : — 

" My friends, in what has the great strength of this Govern- 
ment consisted ? Has it been in one-man power ? Has it been in 
some autocrat, or in some one man, who held absolute govern- 
ment ? No ! I thank God I have it in my power to proclaim the 
great truth, that this Government has derived its strength from the 
American people. They have issued the edict ; they have exer- 
cised the power that has resulted in the overthrow of the rebel- 
lion ; and there is not another Government upon the face of the 
earth that could have withstood the shock. 

" In the language of another, let that old flag rise higher and 
higher, until it meets the sun in his coming, and let the parting 
day linger to play upon its folds. It is the flag of your country ; 
it is your flag, it is my flag, and it bids defiance to all the nations 
of the earth, and the encroachments of all the powers combined. 
It is not my intention to make any imprudent remarks or allu- 



162 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

sions ; but the hour will come when those nations that exhibited 
toward us such insolence and improper interference, in the midst 
of our adversity, and, as they supposed, of our weakness, will 
learn that this is a Government of the people, possessing power 
enough to make itself felt and respected." 

General Lee surrendered his entire army to General 
Grant on April 9, 1865. This was everywhere through- 
out the country, North and South, considered as a virtual 
termination of the war. General Johnston, at the head 
of the odds and ends of the Western rebel army, with 
Hoke's division, which had united with him at Goldsboro', 
was then flying before Sherman's army. Johnston's could 
hardly be called an army. Thoroughly demoralized by 
desertion and despondency, and numbering not more than 
20,000 men of all arms, it passed through Kaleigh, North 
Carolina, only a few hours in advance of Sherman's splen- 
did army of 120,000 men. It was now only a question of 
time as to when Johnston must surrender. The whole 
country was wild with joy at the idea of a termination of 
the terrible and bloody war which had scourged the coun- 
try with such maddening fury. On the night of the 14th 
April, only five days after Lee's surrender, when the pop- 
ulation of the nation were enthusiastic with joy, President 
Lincoln was murdered by an assassin at Ford's Theatre in 
Washington. As the news was telegraphed with light- 
ning speed all over the country, the entire population was 
momentarily struck dumb with horror. The consterna- 
tion at the South was scarcely less striking than at the 
North. The guilty authors and leaders of the rebellion 
dreaded a terrible outburst of vengeance, on the part of 
the Federal army ; and the innocent friends of the Union 
who had been dragged into the conflict against their 
wishes, were not only indignant and astounded at the sav- 
age and inhuman act, but they feared that in the common 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 163 

ruin they would be confounded with the former. Fortu- 
nately for the people of Ealeigh, then occupied by Gen- 
eral Sherman, propositions of negotiation for a surrender 
of his army having been sent by General Johnston, then 
lying near Hillsboro', had reached Ealeigh just before the 
news of President Lincoln's death reached that place. 
There was great excitement among the troops, but by 
timely precaution on the part of the officers, order and 
discipline were preserved. A few days thereafter General 
Johnston surrendered, and thus, like Jonah's gourd, died 
this war as suddenly as it had been precipitately and cause- 
lessly inaugurated. 

The grief of the people at the sad fate of President 
Lincoln, was profound and unaffected. With the people 
of the North, he was a decided favorite. They not only 
esteemed and respected him personally for his private 
virtues ; but he had so managed public affairs, considering 
the great difficulties he had to contend with, as to have 
acquired their confidence and regard as a statesman. 
Among the Southern people even (except the more 
malignant), he was considered to be a man of kindly and 
generous impulses, free from all bitter and revengeful feel- 
ings toward them, and exceedingly anxious for the restora- 
tion of peace and harmony. Meetings were held all over 
the South, expressing sorrow and deep regret at his death, 
and denouncing his assassination as a most atrocious and 
diabolical act. 

No stronger evidence can be afforded of the strength, 
the systematic arrangement and adaptation to circum- 
stances, of our Government and its institutions, than was 
presented in the regular routine of the exercise of executive 
power on the death of Mr. Lincoln. Great as was the 
outburst of grief which followed, yet the behests of duty 
were not forgotten. Mr. Johnson was immediately waited 



164 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

on at his private lodgings, by the Hon. James Speed, 
Attorney-General, with a formal communication from 
Messrs. McCulloch, Stanton, Welles, Dennison, and Usher, 
members of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, informing him (Mr. 
Johnson) of the sad event, and stating that " the emergency 
of the Government demanded that he should immediately 
qualify and enter upon the duties of President of the 
United States." Mr. Johnson designated ten o'clock as the 
hour, and his private apartments at the Kirkwood House 
as the place, where he would take the oath of office. At 
the appointed time and place, without any formal parade 
or ceremony, but quietly and unostentatiously, in a man- 
ner suitable to the occasion, the oath of office was admin- 
istered to him. The short and suitable address he made 
on the occasion is here given entire : 

" Gentlemen, I must be permitted to say that I have been 
almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event which 
has so recently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties 
so important and responsible as those which have been so 
unexpectedly thrown upon me. As to an indication of any policy 
which may be pursued by me in the administration of the Gov- 
ernment, I have to say that that must be left for development, as 
the administration progresses. The message or declaration must 
be made by the acts as they transpire. The only assurance 
that I can now give of the future, is by reference to the past. 
The course which I have taken in the past, in connection with 
this rebellion, must be regarded as a guaranty for the future. 
My past public life, which has been long and laborious, has been 
founded, as I in good conscience believe, upon a great principle of 
right, which lies at the basis of all things. The best energies of 
my life have been spent in endeavoring to establish and perpetu- 
ate the blessings of free government ; and I believe that the Gov- 
ernment, in passing through its present trials, will settle down 
upon principles consonant with popular rights, more permanent 
and enduring than heretofore. I must be permitted to say, if I 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 165 

understood the feelings of my own heart, I have long labored to 
ameliorate and alleviate the condition of the great mass of the 
American people. Toil, and an honest advocacy of the great 
principles of free government, have been my lot. The duties have 
been mine — the consequences are God's. This has been the 
foundation of my political creed. I feel that in the end the Gov- 
ernment will triumph, and that these great principles will be 
permanently established. 

"In conclusion, gentlemen, let me say that I want your 
encouragement and countenance. I shall ask, and rely, upon you 
and others, in carrying the Government through its present perils. 
I feel, in making this request, that it will be heartily responded to 
by you and all other patriots and lovers of the rights and interests 
of a free people." 

Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, was not able to sign 
the communication from the Cabinet in regard to Mr. 
Lincoln's death, nor to be present at the administration of 
the oath, to President Johnson. On the same night on 
which Mr. Lincoln was assassinated, another accomplice in 
the murder attacked Mr. Seward when confined to his bed 
by illness, and inflicted several severe wounds on his face 
and neck with a dagger or large knife. It was feared, for 
some time, that the wounds would prove fatal ; but fortu- 
nately for the country he recovered, after much suffering. 

Mr. Johnson was now President of the United States. 
Through the will of the people and the providence of God, 
he had reached the highest pinnacle of human station and 
power. He was not insensible of the importance of the 
duties devolving on him, or of the heavy responsibility 
incurred thereby. On the 20th of April, the British min- 
ister, Sir Frederick W. H. Bruce, presented his credentials, 
and in doing so, delivered a short and appropriate address 
to President Johnson, expressing a wish " to conciliate 
those relations of comity and good understanding which 
have so long and so happily existed between the two kin- 



166 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

dred nations of the United States and Great Britain," etc. 
President Johnson's reply is one of the finest specimens of 
composition. It is terse, forcible, and to the point. Its 
sentiments are in good taste, and appropriate to such an 
occasion. This was a new field for Mr. Johnson, and 
rather a trying one for a plain, unpretending man, but 
little acquainted with the usages of diplomatic etiquette. 
But, as on every other field on which he had been tried, 
he proved himself fully competent for the work before him. 
President Johnson's reply is here given in full : 

" Sir Frederick W. H. Bruce : The very cordial and friendly 
sentiments which you have expressed, on the part of her Britannic 
Majesty, give me great pleasure. Great Britain and the United 
States, by the extended and various forms of commerce between 
them, the contiguity of portions of their possessions, and the 
similarity of their language and laws, are drawn into constant and 
intimate intercourse. At the same time they are, from the same 
causes, exposed to frequent occasions of misunderstanding, only to 
be averted by mutual forbearance. So eagerly are the people of 
the two countries engaged, throughout almost the whole world, in 
the pursuit of similar commercial enterprises, accompanied by 
natural rivalries and jealousies, that, at first sight, it would almost 
seem that the two Governments must be enemies, or at best cold 
and calculating friends. So devoted are the two nations through- 
out all their domain, and even in their most remote territory and 
colonial possessions, to the principles of civil rights and constitu- 
tional liberty, that, on the other hand, the superficial observer 
might erroneously count upon a continued concert of action and 
sympathy amounting to an alliance between them. Each is 
charged with the development of the progress of the human race, 
and each in its sphere is subject to the difficulties and trials not 
participated in by the other. The interests of civilization and of 
humanity require that the two should be friends. I have always 
known and accounted as a fact, honorable to both countries, that 
the Queen of England is a sincere and honest well-wisher of the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 167 

United States. I have been equally frank and explicit in the 
opinion that the friendship of the United States toward Great 
Britain is enjoined by all considerations of interest and of senti- 
ment affecting the character of both. Yon will, therefore, be ac- 
cepted as a minister friendly and well-disposed to the mainten- 
ance of peace and the honor of both countries. You will find 
myself and all my associates acting in accordance with the same 
enlio-htened policy and consistent sentiments ; and so I am sure 
that it will not occur in your case that either yourself or this Gov- 
ernment will ever have cause to regret that such an important re- 
lationship existed at such a crisis." 

During the same month, in a reply to a large number 
of loyal Southern men who had formally called on Presi- 
dent Johnson, he concluded in the following patriotic and 
feeling language : 

" I can give no greater assurance regarding the settlement of 
this question than that I intend to discharge my duty, and in that 
way which shall, at the earliest possible hour, bring back peace to 
our distracted country. And I hope the time is not far distant 
when our people can all return to their homes and firesides, and 
resume their various avocations." 

President Johnson's course thus far, and what it may be 
hereafter, will belong to history. Thus far his friends have 
cause to congratulate him, and to congratulate themselves 
that he has so successfully grappled with difficulties. 
Many questions have arisen in regard to his plan of recon- 
structing the Union and of restoring harmony, on which 
public opinion is somewhat divided. So great is the con- 
fidence of the people of all sections that his wish and pur- 
pose are to do right, that there seems to be a general dis- 
position to judge of his course with impartiality and 
justice. 

It is now proposed to take a review of President John- 



168 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

son's character as developed by his past life, and then to 
pass in further review his measures and policy as thus far 
demonstrated. The author must be pardoned for indulg- 
ing in such reflections as naturally suggest themselves to 
the mind in contemplating the life and character of this 
remarkable man, which constitute a record of what energy, 
determination, and self-reliance, when sustained by honest, 
upright, and patriotic intentions, can accomplish in defi- 
ance of obstacles that would, at first, seem insurmountable. 



CHAPTEK XIII. 

The Strangeness of Life— Contemplate Andrew Johnson in Greene ville at Nine- 
teen Years of Age— His Feeling and Impulses— Order of his Genius— His 
Life in 1826— Ditto in 1865— His accession to his present Position not the 
mere result of Accident— His Self-reliance— His Progress— His First 
Speech— His Youthful Wife— Her Transfer to the White House— Tests by 
which President Johnson may be Tried— Regard for Truthfulness— His 
Candor and Sincerity — His Industry and Energy — Honesty and Fair 
Dealing in Private Life — Economy. 

How strange is life ! How contrary to all human cal- 
culations are the developments produced by time ! What 
interesting reflections are superinduced by comparing the 
past and its improbabilities with the present and its reali- 
ties ! What opposite incidents are here afforded for a pic- 
torial representation of human life ! Contemplate Andrew 
Johnson when, at the age of nineteen, he was a journey- 
man tailor in Greeneville, Tennessee. Whilst his hands 
were busily engaged on his daily labor, his mind was not 
idle. Although his intellect had not been enlarged and ex- 
panded by education in early life, yet he felt the restless 
strivings of those aspirations upward with which Nature 
had endowed him. He felt that he had a mission higher 
than that of merely passing quietly and unknown through 
life — that he had something more to do — that he owed 
something more to his fellow-men than to pass his hours of 
recess from labor in looking out on the beautiful scenery 
and inhaling the bracing ah* of his mountain home. He 
had recourse to books, as have had so many other great 



170 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

men who were deprived of the advantages of education in 
early life. He devoted to reading all the time he could 
spare from his hours of regular labor. He soon made him- 
self acquainted with the political history of his country, 
and the nature and character of those issues of govern- 
mental policy which divided public opinion. His reading 
and acquisition of knowledge did not stop there. He en- 
larged the scope of his information, and brightened and 
improved his intellectual powers, by a course of miscella- 
neous reading. Let any one read his speeches in Congress 
from and after 1843, when he was not more than thirty- 
five years old, and see how laborious and extensive his 
reading must have been in the course of a few years. It is 
really wonderful that any man could have acquired such a 
fund of information — such a correct and accurate knowl- 
edge of the idiom and grammatical structure of the English 
language by his own unaided efforts in so short a time. 
His speeches do not exhibit merely the strong and forcible 
thoughts of a vigorous mind expressed in rough and un- 
couth style, but they show a correct knowledge of the rules 
of grammar and the philosophy of language. There is a 
terseness, a directness, a vigor about his style not to be 
mistaken, and he frequently rises to eloquence of the 
highest order when treating of subjects on which he feels 
deeply. 

But we are anticipating. With Andrew Johnson, as 
with all other men of a high order of native intellect, he 
felt and knew his latent powers. Let others say what they 
may about the modesty, the distrust, the diffidence of 
genius, we insist that there never yet was a man of high 
intellectual power that did not feel and understand the 
strivings and struggles of the divine principle within him. 
Genius may be distrustful and diffident, but it is not diffi- 
dent and distrustful of itself. It often feels the agony of 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 171 

seeing itself neglected and scouted when deprived of the 
adventitious aids of wealth and friends and social position. 
It often feels wounded and sore at witnessing others, far less 
gifted intellectually and morally, elevated to honors and 
distinctions over its own head. Sometimes it shrinks back 
within itself, and despairing of ever being appreciated, it 
sinks down into imbecility, or rushes into dissipation and 
ruin. It is where native genius is allied to sound practical 
sense — where native intellect calls to its aid application and 
study — where a consciousness of mental vigor is allied to a 
confidence that a proper appreciation of worth and talent 
and virtue may be secured by perseverance and untiring 
labor — that great characters are formed, and great men de- 
veloped, and great historic names are eliminated. 

Andrew Johnson's life and character prove beyond con- 
troversy the truth of our position. To deny him genius 
of a high order, after reflecting on the mere facts to which 
we have alluded, would be absurd. As is almost uniformly 
the case with men of genius who have had to struggle with 
hardship in early life, he is a sensitive man, and therefore 
rather retiring than obtrusive in his character. In speak- 
ing of him as a sensitive man, we do not mean that kind 
of morbid sensibility which usually unfits a man for the 
practical duties of life, and which tends, if not counter- 
acted, to sullenness and misanthropy. We mean simply 
that kind of sensibility which is another name for self- 
respect, and which always accompanies strong feelings and 
a warm heart. Andrew Johnson would be more than 
human if he could erase from his memory, and obliterate 
the impress of, the thousand reflections and associations of 
his past life arising from his struggles with adversity in his 
early days ; the bitter opposition and persecution even that 
he has had to encounter in his political career ; the denun- 
ciation, abuse, and vilification that have been poured out 



172 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

on his head by disunionists and conspirators in the last four 
years. Every man is to himself a microcosm — a little 
world. This little world is made up of the impressions, 
the thoughts, the feelings, the reflections, the experiences 
of his life. All and each of these stamp upon the character 
the impress of their own peculiar influences, without our 
being conscious how, when, or where the impression was 
made. It is from the crucible in which all these ingre- 
dients are commingled that character is elaborated. 

Andrew Johnson was thrown on the wide world in 
early life without wealth, without education, without 
friends, among the great and influential, with nothing but 
his strong mind and physical vigor, and his own good name 
for industry, honesty, and sobriety to aid him in his outset 
on the journey of life. For some years the ascent of the 
hill of life must have been to him a difficult and toilsome 
task. But he was not appalled by the undertaking. As 
has been said before, his life affords a study for the contem- 
plation of the philosopher and the statesman too. Let the 
mind dwell for a moment on Andrew Johnson in 1826 and 
the same Andrew Johnson in 1865. In 1826 he finally left 
the place of his nativity, turned his back upon the humble 
roof under which he was born, bade adieu to the grave of 
his father, whose death left him an orphan — and whose 
memory is more dear to him now, in his day of prosperity 
and power, because of his humble but honest life — took an 
affectionate leave of his more distant relatives and the 
companions of his youthful sports and amusements, and, 
with a swelling heart and eyes bedewed with tears, he 
started on his pilgrimage beyond the Blue Mountains of the 
West. He was then a youth, only seventeen or eighteen 
years of age. But the same self-reliance, the same energy 
of character, the same inflexible determination of purpose, 
which have since enabled him to triumph over so many 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 173 

obstacles, then braced his nerves and fortified his aching 
heart for the trials and hardships before him. 

Contemplate the same Andrew Johnson now. Forty 
years after he left his birthplace, uncertain as to where 
the current of destiny wonld waft him, he now occupies a 
position the highest known under our Government, and 
surpassing, in point of honor and in the magnitude of the 
powers exercised under it, any throne, principality, or power 
among the nations of the earth. His accession to this 
position was not the mere result of accident, as might be 
urged by some. The influences which prevailed in his 
nomination for the Vice-Presidency on the ticket with 
Mr. Lincoln were with special reference to the con- 
tingency of Mr. Lincoln's death. The facts have been 
lately set forth in a publication in the " New York Herald " 
by one who was evidently a member of the nominating 
convention. The great State of New York agreed to yield 
her supposed preference for one of her own favorite sons 
in favor of Mr. Johnson. In fact, there was a peculiar 
identity in the position occupied by Mr. Johnson which 
could not be disregarded. His nomination seemed to be 
considered as a foregone conclusion — as a thing eminently 
proper to be done — as something that could scarcely be 
avoided. And it was done with special reference to the 
contingency of Mr. Lincoln's death. His nomination was 
a voluntary tribute of popular feeling throughout the 
whole country to the great and unrivalled services which 
Mr. Johnson had rendered to the cause of the Union. No 
such influences as usually prevail in such nominations 
operated in the nomination of Mr. Johnson. It was not 
done with the view or expectation of securing to the ticket 
the vote of Tennessee. That was known to be an impos- 
sible thing. No electioneering appliances were necessary 
to secure his nomination. It was his general, well-known 



174 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

popularity throughout the Union, together with the pecu- 
liar prominence of his position as that of the Hercules who 
had struck the hydra of Disunion such a deadly blow on its 
own soil and at its own home ; it was this which caused 
public opinion to concentrate on him with a rush, as it 
were, as the very man that the country would need in case 
of Mr. Lincoln's death. 

But to return. The reader has been asked to contem- 
plate Andrew Johnson, when he left the place of his na- 
tivity about 1826, in contradistinction to his position in 
1865. What must have been his reflections, when wend- 
ing his weary way on his lonely journey westward, when 
passing the splendid mansions, and witnessing the gay 
equipages of the wealthy and the great, and then con- 
trasted with them his own friendless condition ? Not that 
he envied them the possession of wealth and affluence, 
which he did not possess. JSTo, his soul was too big for 
that. But still how could he but reflect on the apparent 
whims and caprices of Fortune, which frequently enabled 
bloated ignorance and vicious arrogance to roll in wealth, 
surrounded with all the appliances that could minister to 
physical pleasures, whilst the son of genius, whose bosom 
was swelling with the impulses of an ennobling ambition 
for usefulness and fame, had no other home but the arch 
of heaven, no other fortune than what was contained in 
the small pack on his back! After crossing the Blue 
Mountains, the very sight of which is so well calculated 
to elevate the conceptions, and to enlarge and purify the 
sentiments, or looking around him, with an empty purse, 
for employment in his mechanical calling, looked upon 
probably with distrust, as an itinerant wayfarer, how dark 
and forbidding must have appeared the road of life which he 
had to tread ! Yet he did not despair. He did not drown 
reflection in the bowl of intoxication ; he did not fly from 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 175 

thought to the haunts of dissipation, as so many youths of 
genius have done. His own stern self-reliance, his own 
determination of purpose, his energy of character sustained 
him against all the trials of adversity. 

A trial on the part of his first employers was all that 
was necessary to secure to him their confidence and regard. 
The conviction of his laborious habits, attention to duty, 
moral and upright deportment, truthfulness and reliability 
under any trust confided to him, afforded by the test of 
experience, were worth more to him than thousands of 
mere formal paper recommendations, so easily obtained, 
and usually of such little worth. In the humble but re- 
spectable calling which he followed, he soon exhibited the 
same determination to excel which has marked his career 
in every other relation of life. He was not satisfied with 
plodding along the dull and beaten track of mediocrity. 
He added to the respectability and usefulness of his call- 
ing as a laboring man, by his promptness, his urbanity, 
and politeness, his strict probity and undeviating attention 
to business. His advancement and progress, both socially 
and pecuniarily, were upward and onward all the time. 
Those who knew and observed Mr. Johnson whilst he 
pursued his mechanical calling as a tailor in Greeneville, 
Tennessee, concur in their statements as to his social hab- 
its and character. He always preserved his self-respect as 
a man and a gentleman, and he always exacted and com- 
manded it from others. He never cringed to the high, the 
wealthy, and the great. At the same time he never in- 
dulged or exhibited any sullen, morose, or envious feelings 
toward those who were more fortunate than himself in 
the possession of wealth or of station. Whilst he never 
would brook any airs of superiority assumed by those who 
presumed on their wealth or high social position, he was 
ever kind, genial, and social toward them when they ob- 



176 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

served toward him the respect and consideration due to an 
equal and a gentleman. 

Contemplate Mr. Johnson at a later period of his life, 
when, in the full vigor of manhood, his knowledge had 
been extended, and his information enlarged by reading 
and reflection. Behold him in his neat and comfortable 
but unpretending house in Greeneville, busily engaged in 
his daily labor, his wife attending to her domestic cares, 
and his children playing and prattling around him. These 
were the days of struggling conflict in his mind, between 
the cares and anxieties of domestic life, and the strivings 
of that consciousness of powers within him unappreciated 
by the world. "What must have been his reflections when 
he saw honors and promotion heaped on others whom he 
knew to be immeasurably his inferiors ? Or when occa- 
sionally giving a few hours of relaxation to a visit to the 
hustings, what must he have thought on his return home- 
ward, of the political morals of the times, when he saw 
personal abuse and vilification resorted to in the place of 
argument ; when he saw bickerings and wrangling instead 
of calm discussion of great principles, and the honest and 
unsophisticated masses of the people used by aspiring pol- 
iticians as mere counters in playing the game of decep- 
tion, instead of being regarded as rational beings, with 
minds to think and hearts to feel ? Let the mind's eye fol- 
low him still further to the time when, unable any longer 
to resist the promptings of his own bosom, he resolved to 
take an active part in political affairs, and to " cast his 
bread upon the waters." Contemplate him when about 
to make his first speech. What must have been his anx- 
iety of mind, between his aspirations to be useful in his 
day and generation, and his misgivings lest he should not 
be able to convey in suitable language the convictions 
which he felt so strongly ? The great British orator, Er- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 



177 



skine, in describing his sensations when making his first 
speech, in his first case at the bar, said he was at first 
alarmed by the sound of his own voice ; but that he was 
assured with confidence as the idea occurred to him that 
he felt his little children pulling at the skirts of his gar- 
ment, and saying to him, " Now, father, now is the time 
to give us bread." We may well imagine Andrew John- 
son's sensations to have been very much of the same char- 
acter when he first heard the sound of his own voice, in 
commencing his first speech. Probably his feelings were 
much more acute on the occasion than Erskine's were. 
Erskine, though poor, yet belonged to a great and noble 
family. He had had, in early life, the advantages of edu- 
cation and the highest social position. Johnson may not 
have imagined he heard his children reminding him of 
" bread," for his industry and economy had provided for 
that. But well might he have imagined he heard them 
reminding him that then was the time to lay the founda- 
tion of a reputation and fame far more to be prized by 
them than wealth, than lands and stocks, and flocks and 
herds. It can easily be imagined how many winks and 
witticisms were indulged in, at the idea that the tailor-boy, 
who had come there a few years before in search of em- 
ployment in his calling, should now aspire to ventilate his 
lucubrations for the benefit of the public. It can also be 
further imagined how blank soon became the counte- 
nances of these witlings, and how brightened up the faces 
of the few friends who had never doubted, as soon as they 
perceived his clear and pointed and forcible style ; heard 
him grappling with arguments, and, in a new and peculiar 
method of reasoning and illustration, elucidating questions 
which had become trite and threadbare. Mr. Johnson 
had bided his time, and in his first effort his friends had 
an earnest of success. 



178 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Again, in turning over the leaves of this pictorial book 
of 1mm an life, on one page behold the youthful wife, her 
face beaming with anxious pride, as she witnesses the rapid 
proficiency of her pupil, while she unfolds and explains to 
him the elements of learning. Behold the young husband 
snatching a few hours from the routine of his daily occupa- 
tion, or at night, when the labors of the day are over, with 
face intent on the volume before him, receiving instruction 
or explanation of the rudiments of learning, from her who 
was to him not only the affectionate partner of his joys 
and sorrows, but his instructor and adviser in acquiring 
knowledge. Turn over another page and behold this same 
couple, no longer in their neat and comfortable, but unpre- 
tending home in Tennessee, but transferred to " the White 
House " in Washington ! And what a transfer ! A 
transfer from the peaceful and quiet joys of domestic 
happiness, to the busy, and exciting, and momentous cares 
of a nation's life. Behold this same wife, whom time has 
changed from the youthful bride to the staid and dignified 
matron. Behold her in meditation, as she moves through 
the gorgeous apartments of the extensive mansion — thinking 
of her distant and loved home in the bosom of the Tennessee 
mountains — reflecting on the vanity of earthly honors, com- 
pared with the joys and endearments of the domestic home 
and fireside — and yet her heart swelling with the pride of 
affection for him who has reached the pinnacle of earthly 
power, honor, and renown. 

Behold him who was once the pupil spoken of, now, 
instead of poring over the elementary text-books, perusing 
grave State-papers affecting the destinies of his country — 
or treaties involving the relations of empires; or. in his 
moments of relaxation from business, consulting the works 
of the master-minds of the world, upon the science of gov- 
ernment, or the still more abstruse questions of national 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 179 

trade, commerce, etc. Andrew Johnson seems to have 
taken advice of the poet, in reference to his acquisition of 
learning, untoward and forbidding as were the auspices 
under which he commenced to learn. He did not stop at 
a " little learning," which the poet pronounces to be " dan- 
gerous," but his literary productions, his speeches, State- 
papers etc., show that he rested not till he had " drunk 
deep " at the Pierian fountain. 

It is a well-established fact in the history of human 
nature, confirmed by observation in every one's experience, 
that a man exhibits the same traits of character in every 
relation of life in which he may be placed. If he is devoid 
of truth as a private man, no dependence can be placed on his 
promises and professions when he is elevated to high political 
station. If he is deceitful and dissembling in private life, 
he will prove to be a trickster and an intriguer as a public 
man. If he is indolent and lethargic in his own private 
affairs, he will neglect his public duties when intrusted 
with power. If he has been in the habit of cheating and 
defrauding his neighbors in small matters, he will pervert 
any official position he may hold to his own private ends 
and interests. If he is particularly selfish in his private 
relations, he will sacrifice the public good to his own per- 
sonal wishes and feelings. If he is morose and churlish in 
his social habits, he will prove to be wanting in civility, 
courtesy, and politeness in the discharge of his public 
duties. If he is loose, reckless, and extravagant in the 
management of his own private affairs, he will exhibit the 
same disregard of the public interest in the performance 
of official duty. And so, in regard to the whole catalogue 
of vices and infirmities to which man is liable. 

Let President Johnson be tried by all these tests ; and 
he will pass through the alembic unscathed, and will 



180 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

come out like pure gold, leaving scarcely a trace of dross 
behind. 

As to his high regard for, and uniform observance of 
truthfulness, he has ever been regarded as a striking 
example by those who have been brought in contact with 
him. And so in regard to his public life, and the discharge 
of his official duties. Whatever he says in reference to his 
views on any subject, no one ever questions. Wherever 
he announces his policy on any measure, everybody regards 
it as his fixed conviction and definitive conclusion. When- 
ever he promises any thing, no one doubts about the fulfil- 
ment of his word. This character for reliability, this strict 
adherence to his declarations and professions, are the result 
of that religious regard for truth which he has observed 
through life. Even during the most heated and exciting 
periods of party conflict in Tennessee, the opponents of 
Mr. Johnson, no matter whatever else they might say 
against him, never accused him of falsehood against his 
adversary. He never descended to the low habit, so com- 
mon in heated party contests, of resorting to, nor of 
encouraging his friends to circulate false accusations and 
personal slanders against his competitor. He always relied 
upon the truth and strength of the principles he professed, 
and the measures he advocated ; and left to smaller men 
and to more ignoble characters the petty and contemptible 
calling of falsehood and slander. Truthfulness is a virtue 
which political life is not well calculated to foster and 
strengthen, and cannot be acquired, unless based on prin- 
ciple. It must, in order to its uniform and systematic 
observance, be the fruit of a tree planted in early life. It 
must depend on habits of training in youth, followed up by 
practical observance, until it becomes incorporated into the 
character, as a condition of its existence. Truth has ever 
been regarded by the great and the good of every age and 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 181 

country, and by the great Author and founders of the 
Christian creed, as the groundwork of moral duty. The 
saying of the Spartan king who declared that truth was 
the first thing a child should be taught to speak, has 
immortalized his name forever. " To speak the truth " 
was, by the ancient Persians, placed in the category of the 
manly pursuits of " shooting with the bow," and the 
" management of the horse," to be taught to the Persian 
youth. President Johnson's character for uncompromising 
devotion to truth, is one of the brightest legacies he can 
leave to his children, proud as they may be of him in other 
respects. He may be pointed to as a model for imitation 
to the rising generation — as an example of how the seeds 
of virtue sown in early life may ultimately produce a full 
and plentiful harvest — and as a striking instance that the 
uniform practice and cultivation of a high moral duty, 
although long unappreciated, yet in the end enjoys its 
reward in the approbation and esteem of a great and just 
people. 

As to deceitfulness and dissembling — the second in the 
category of human infirmities adverted to by way of 
illustration — this is probably the last charge that his 
enemies would ever think of preferring against him. 
Those who knew him in boyhood, speak of the prompt- 
ness, the positiveness, the candor, and open-hearteclness of 
his nature and disposition. His opinions he never con- 
cealed ; he never prevaricated in regard to his course. 
He has exhibited the same trait of character from that day 
to this. Whether as an apprentice-boy in Raleigh, or as 
conducting a business of his own in Tennessee — whether 
canvassing before the people, or as discussing some great 
question in the House of Representatives — whether in dis- 
charging the embarrassing duties of Provisional Governor 
of Tennessee, or of the still more responsible position of 



182 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

President of the United States— candor and sincerity have 
marked his course. There is no double dealing in his con- 
duct. There has ever been a directness, a straightforward- 
ness about his course, that has left no one in doubt as to 
his position. We will venture to say that no one was ever 
deceived in Andrew Johnson, in the private relations of 
life, who once regarded him as a friend. His friendships, 
though slow in being formed, were sincere and lasting 
when once entertained. It is this confidence in his sincer- 
ity, and freedom from every thing like dissimulation, that 
causes his personal friends to feel such strong attachment 
for him. When a candidate before the people, in dis- 
cussing great questions of national policy, he never tried 
to dodge the issues presented. He marched boldly up to 
his work, and debated questions on their true merits. He 
never resorted to those tricks of the demagogue, of trying 
to pervert and misrepresent the views of his opponent, 
but met his positions fairly and squarely. In the trying 
and embarrassing position as Provisional or Military Gov- 
ernor of Tennessee, no one was at a loss to understand 
him. His speeches, his proclamations, his State-papers, 
were not of the Janus-faced order. What he said he 
meant, and what he meant he said. It is his dislike of 
all equivocation and prevarication that now gives con- 
fidence to the people of the country, North and South. 
The public have faith in his sincerity. They do not fear 
that he will dissemble or cloak his opinions under any 
false or specious pretences, or that he will mislead them 
by any jargon of words. There has probably been no man 
in latter times who has filled so many high and dis- 
tinguished positions, and who has been uniformly so suc- 
cessful, who has been so free from all the arts and appli- 
ances of trickery and intrigue. These political vices have 
been the bane of our country in modern days. They have 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 183 

distempered and corrupted the political morals of our peo- 
ple. Andrew Johnson never was an intriguer. It was 
the people, and not the politicians, who have promoted 
and elevated him. He never was an especial favorite of 
the politicians. His bold, open, and manly course on all 
questions has set at defiance the professional politicians. 
He never relied on their schemes and machinations, in 
order to obtain political promotion ; nor have they been 
able to alienate from him the affections of the people. It 
is to be hoped the reign of political trickery and intrigue 
is at an end for eight years at least. The country needs 
reformation in this respect, and Andrew Johnson is the 
man to crush the head of this political viper. 

How stands President Johnson in regard to the third 
in the list of infirmities alluded to ? Have indolence and 
lethargy marked his private life, so as to excite any fears, 
in that regard, as to the performance of his public duties ? 
By no means. The history of his life is a record of untir- 
ing industry and energy. His very appearance shows 
that he is endowed by Nature with great capacity for 
labor. Regular training and constant employment have 
strengthened and fortified his natural aptitude for work. 
It is doubtful whether there is any man in this country 
whose life has been one constant employment in labor, both 
physical and mental, more so than that of Andrew John- 
son. Inured to labor from early boyhood, work has 
become the normal condition of his life. For many years 
he labored physically by day, and mentally by night. In 
Congress, instead of spending his time as a mere holiday, 
he took a lively and active interest in the great questions 
of the day. Whilst he participated in the debates on great 
and exciting questions, his ambition seems to have aimed 
at usefulness rather than display. In his political canvass- 
es in Tennessee, his opponents can bear witness to his en- 



184 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

ergy and perseverance, which have ever been important 
elements in his success. His labors as President of the 
United States are said to be Herculean. Feeling as 
he does the responsibility which rests upon him, knowing 
as he does that the hopes and expectations of the people 
are directed to him, appreciating as he does the vast, the 
unprecedented importance of the great questions involved 
in reorganizing and reconstructing the Union, and re- 
solved to do his duty at all hazards, there is such a multi- 
plicity of business requiring his attention, that it must tax 
his physical endurance to its utmost capacity. No ordina- 
ry frame, no lethargic mind could stand it. Fortunate 
it is for Mr. Johnson that a life of toil had inured him 
to such habits of labor ; fortunate it is for the country 
that it has such a man for President at this juncture. 

Can President Johnson pass the ordeal of the fourth 
case suggested? Was his reputation for fair dealing 
and honesty in private life such as to assure the pub 
lie that he will be free from selfishness, and will not 
administer the Government with a view to his personal 
benefit ? On this score his friends can challenge for him 
the most searching investigation. Those who knew him 
as a boy, say he was a fair, honest, and generous youth ; 
always ready to share with his companions any little deli- 
cacy he might have, and to incur his share of any self-sac- 
rifice that had to be met. Those who knew him in mid- 
dle life, bear testimony to the fact that he was a scrupu- 
lously honest man in all the transactions of life ; that so 
far from being a sharper or a cheat in his ordinary deal- 
ings, he was generous and confiding in his intercourse with 
all ; much more apt to be imposed on by, than to impose 
on others. If the position be correct, that the same man 
will exhibit the same character in private and in public life, 
then we have a guaranty in Mr. Johnson's past life that 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 185 

he will administer the high functions of his distinguished 
station, not with reference to selfish ends, but with an eye 
single to the public good. As has been already said, Mr. 
Johnson has never relied for support and for success on the 
professional politicians. He has relied on the people, and 
therefore we have cause to hope he will continue to study 
the interests of the people and the general interest of the 
whole country. The bestowal of office on unworthy men, 
and the prostitution of executive patronage to the attain- 
ment of selfish aims and objects, has been one of the causes 
of political demoralization in our country. This is admit- 
ted by all men, of all political shades and complexions. 
President Johnson knows the people have confidence 
in him. He knows, also, that the people have sagacity and 
judgment to perceive who are their true friends. As 
heretofore, he will not rely on the intrigues of cliques and 
factions for support and aid in the discharge of his onerous 
duties ; but he will rely on the great body of the people 
to sustain him against any intrigue or factious opposition 
that disappointed, envious, or ambitious politicians may 
inaugurate against his administration. 

It cannot be denied that the immense public debt in- 
curred by the war, together with the constantly increasing 
expenditures of the Government, will require a most rigid 
economy, and the strictest supervision in the administra- 
tion of our finances, for years to come. As the ocean is 
made of drops, so the sum total of our annual expenditure 
is made up of the thousands of small items that are 
charges on the Treasury. If it was our misfortune at this 
time that the Chief Executive of the United States was a 
man of reckless and extravagant character in regard to the 
expenditure of money — if he was a man careless as to the 
amount of our annual appropriations, and indifferent as to 
the means of the Government for meeting them — well might 



186 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

we all feel alarmed as to the future, and in regard to the 
financial crash which many wise and prudent men con- 
sider as not only probable but as inevitable. But Andrew 
Johnson happens to be President. Judging from his con- 
duct in past life, in the management of his own private af- 
fairs, we have an assurance that economy and frugality 
will be observed, as far as his influence and power may pre- 
vail, in our public appropriations, and the way and man- 
ner in which the money is expended. The wants and ne- 
cessities of early life taught Mr. Johnson the value of 
money. The habits of his early and more mature man- 
hood taught him the necessity of economy in his domestic 
affairs. To his everlasting praise be it said, he managed 
to support a large and growing family by his labor, and 
to provide something for comforts (beyond which he never 
aspired) and for the education of his children besides. He 
never went in debt, except temporarily, and under circum- 
stances where he saw the probability of meeting his 
engagement when due. Extravagance beyond his means 
he always avoided. He regulated his expenses according 
to his income. In his domestic economy, as in the practi- 
cal details of his mechanical pursuit, he " cut his garment 
according to the cloth." Judging from the management 
of his private affairs in his past life — his rigid economy, 
his punctuality in meeting his engagements — the country 
may feel assured, as it does feel assured, that President 
Johnson will discourage every thing like extravagance in 
our public expenditures, will repress plunder and pecula- 
tion of the public funds, and husband all our resources, 
with a view of extricating us from our present difficul- 
ties, to the utmost extent of his power. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Moral and Physical Bravery of President Johnson as Military Governor 
of Tennessee— His Position that Tennessee had never been out of the 
Union— Difficulties of his Position as Governor— His Early Adhesion to 
the Democratic Party— Philosophy of that Party— Charges against Mr. 
Johnson— That of being a Demagogue Examined— Of being a Cold, Heart- 
less Man— Views of those who know Him— His Strong Attachment for the 
great Middle Class— His Plain, Unpretending, Unaffected Manners— His 
great Executive and Administrative Functions — His Clemency — His 
Moderation — His Respect for Northern People. 

It is not very often that moral and physical bravery are 
eminently illustrated in the same individual. There are 
some men who will never surrender a principle — who would 
brave any danger, or incur any sacrifice, in the mainten- 
ance and defence of their convictions of duty — who would 
die the death of martyrs rather than abandon their views 
of duty — who are yet physically timid and unresisting. 
They would submit to a personal indignity, without resist- 
ance or complaint, whilst they would never compromise a 
sense of moral duty even under the rack or at the stake. 
Again, there are men who would brook personal hazard — 
who would endure any privation — who would confront 
death itself, in the resentment of a private grievance, upon 
a mere punctilio of personal honor — yet who cannot even 
hazard the odium of popular censure, and who shrink ap- 
palled at the responsibility of their course on public affairs 
before the tribunal of public opinion. Strange that it is 
so, but it is no more strange than true. President John- 
son presents a striking instance where both these qualities 



188 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

are united in the same person. It is well understood 
throughout Tennessee — the theatre of his political conflicts 
—that he is a man of true personal courage. The best 
evidence he has given of it has been, not by being fre- 
quently engaged in quarrels and difficulties, but by keeping 
out of them. Slow to anger, and rather hard to arouse, 
he knows how to exercise forbearance rather than com- 
promise his character for peacefulness. But when he dis- 
covers unmistakably a purpose to insult or browbeat him, 
his resentments are sudden and unequivocal. And yet, for 
mere quarrelling, for an indulgence in abusive language, he 
has no taste. When forced to meet a personal issue, he 
hurls his defiance in the language of bold and manly 
daring, and leaves his adversary to his own reflections. It 
is his well-understood character, in this respect, that has 
saved him from many a personal difficulty. A readiness to 
fight is not a character to be coveted or admired by the 
virtuous and the good. When possessed by man, it is pos- 
sessed in common with the brutes. It is not in any such 
sense as this that allusion is made to Mr. Johnson's readi- 
ness to vindicate his self-respect when unjustly assailed. It 
is alluded to as that readiness to repel outrage and oppres- 
sion which experience proves to be unavoidable in a public 
man — first, to secure him self against imposition from others, 
and secondly, to acquire and preserve the confidence and 
respect of the masses. 

But it is especially in reference to his moral courage 
that Mr. Johnson's character excites pride and pleasure. 
This noble virtue of moral courage has been honored and 
celebrated by the great and good of all ages and countries 
as one of the noblest traits of human character. It is this 
which consoles the good man under affliction — which sus- 
tains the great man who has commanded success when 
under adverse fortune — which enables the conscientious 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHKSON. 189 

man to brave the reproaches of public opinion rather than 
neglect the high behests of duty. It seems to be based on 
an innate conviction of the demands of truth and justice, 
and a firm reliance that a sacred regard for the moral obli- 
gations of life will ultimately obtain its reward in the con- 
sciousness of an honest discharge of duty, although it 
should fail to receive the plaudits of the multitude for the 
present or the approbation of posterity in the future. This 
virtue of moral bravery Mr. Johnson possesses in a most 
eminent degree. What we have said of the incidents of 
his past life proves this beyond controversy. There never 
was an occasion where a man was called on for the exer- 
cise of a greater degree of moral courage than by Andrew 
Johnson as Military Governor of Tennessee. Much as he 
loved the State which had so often and so highly honored 
him — indissolubly as he knew to be connected his own 
future fame and personal happiness with the fate of Ten- 
nessee — at a time too when the probabilities were that Ten- 
nessee would be forever detached from the Union with the 
other Southern States — yet he never wavered for a moment 
in regard to his course. At a time when the furor of se- 
cession swept over the South, prostrating whole States and 
communities, hundreds and thousands of the best Union 
men in the South became paralyzed, as it were, and gave 
up all as lost. But not so Andrew Johnson. Whilst 
others quailed before the storm and lost their self-posses- 
sion, he kept cool and composed. He stood as firm and 
unshaken as a sea-girt rock, defying the floods of abuse and 
the tempests of faction. He would not follow his State 
in her reckless course, and he would not desert her. He 
resolved to remain with her, and save her if possible, even 
at the most extreme personal hazard. He appealed to, 
and rallied nnder his country's flag, the mountain-boys that 
had so often cheered him onward to triumph and to fame. 



190 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Owing mainly to his exertions, as will be admitted by all, 
Tennessee was the first of the recreant States that was w T on 
back to the national arms, not however until her soil had 
been drenched in blood, from Memphis to Chattanooga. 

Mr. Johnson, from the first, planted himself on the 
position that Tennessee had never been out of the Union — 
that all the wiles of disunionists and secessionists could not 
get her out. He could not fail to see, however, that, 
owing to the operation of the disunion movement in her 
borders, her position was an anomalous one ; that in regard 
to her social internal condition, during the year or two that 
a disunion regime had borne sway, a disintegration of her 
political and social elements had taken place ; and the 
difficulty was, how to readjust and reaccommodate her to 
the new state of affairs. Here, again, Mr. Johnson's cool- 
ness, firmness, and self-possession did not desert him. He 
had no precedents to guide him ; he had to find his way to 
the object of his pursuit through darkness and difficulty. 
He was resolved to restore the normal ^relations between 
the State and the General Government as soon as possible. 
Neither the Constitution nor statute had provided for any 
such contingency. A great outcry was raised against him 
about usurping unconstitutional and unauthorized powers. 
But he felt that the saving the Constitution was a much 
more important matter than the manner of saving it. He 
brushed away at once the cobwebs and technicalities of the 
letter in order to save the spirit of the Constitution. Like 
the old lawyer, Maynard, at the great English Eevolution 
of 1688, he took the ground that questions affecting the 
highest interests of the commonwealth were not to be de- 
cided by verbal cavils and by scraps of law French and law 
Latin. Macaulay informs us that on the bill declaring the 
convention (which had been elected on the mere invitation 
of the Prince of Orange, without the issuing any royal writ 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 191 

for the purpose) to be a Parliament, great excitement and 
clamor were indulged in. While some members were in- 
sisting on a rigid adherence to ancient forms and customs, 
and others were quoting black-letter precedents for guid- 
ance, Maynard, the greatest lawyer of his time, arose, and 
scornfully thrust aside as frivolous and out of place all that 
black-letter learning which some men, far less versed in 
such matters than himself, had introduced into the dis- 
cussion. 

" We are," he said, " this day out of the beaten path ; if, there- 
fore, we are determined to move only in that path, we cannot 
move at all. A man in a revolution, resolving* to do nothing which 
is not strictly according to established form, resembles a man who 
has lost himself in the wilderness, and who stands crying, 'Where 
is the king's highway ? I will walk nowhere but on the King's 
highway.' In a wilderness, a man should take the track which will 
carry him home. In a revolution, we must have recourse to the 
highest law, the safety of the State." 

Maynard's practical common-sense view was adopted, 
and thus was the great English Revolution of 1688 con- 
summated, and the rights and liberties of the citizen placed 
on an impregnable basis. This was done, not by adhering 
to ancient forms, but by disregarding them. Governor 
Johnson found himself in the same situation, when trying 
to inaugurate and install a loyal State Government in Ten- 
nessee. He is beset with the same difficulties in his efforts 
to reaccommodate all the seceding States, as members of 
the Union, to the status in which the war left them. It 
requires no ordinary amount of moral courage to face the 
clamor and misrepresentation, and in many instances the 
honest misconception entertained toward him, in the ac- 
complishment of his work. But yet he knows that duty 
requires it, and he shrinks not from its performance. He 
has a great and commendable work to accomplish, and he 



192 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

is sometimes compelled to disregard old landmarks, under 
the pressure of necessity. True, necessity is the u tyrant's 
plea," as well as the plea of the practical and conscientious 
man, who finds himself environed with difficulties, with- 
out precedents to guide or experience to confirm him. 
Therefore all arguments founded on " necessity," should 
be closely weighed and strictly examined. Time, and it 
will require no long time either, is all that is necessary 
to vindicate President Johnson's course. Let those who, 
from one section, condemn him for going too far, and 
let those who, from another section, blame him for not 
going far enough* let them wait awhile, until the practical 
working of his system shall have tested its wisdom. This 
is all he asks, or his friends ask for him. They are willing 
to risk his reputation on the developments of the future, 
and the calm and unbiased judgment, a just and appre- 
ciative people may pass on his course as a whole. Presi- 
dent Johnson's policy is the result of a system elaborated 
and matured in his own mind. His course should not be 
hastily judged from isolated and detached acts. No man 
is entirely free from error. It is the general tenor of his 
life which stamps the character of every man for good- 
ness as an upright and moral man, or for patriotism as a 
lover of his country. Without some degree of charity 
and forbearance, on the part of his fellow-men, for error 
of judgment and human infirmity, who can pass the ordeal 
of a criticism that judges and condemns according to the 
standard of perfection % One thing is certain : President 
Johnson will not be driven from his course by outcry and 
clamor. Whilst ever willing to listen to the advice of 
friends, and to respect and pay due regard to the calm and 
reflective appeals of public opinion, yet he never can be 
shaken in his purposes, or deterred from following the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 193 

path of duty, by the intrigues of the factions or the de- 
nunciations of the envious. 

There is, perhaps, no State in the Union where party 
spirit has been more fierce and unsparing, and where party 
contests have been marked by more personal bitterness, 
than Tennessee. Their political conflicts have usually 
been marked by personal rancor and denunciation. Many 
instances have occurred in Mr. Johnson's political can- 
vasses, where he has been warned and threatened that he 
would not be allowed to speak at certain times and places, 
or if he did speak, that he would not be allowed to indulge 
in the same train of remarks he had used on other speci- 
fied occasions. But Andrew Johnson never quailed be- 
fore such notifications as these. He never failed to meet 
his appointments, unless indisposition or the elements ren- 
dered it impossible. Whenever he ascended the stand, 
and calmly surveyed the crowd, his eye sparkling from 
subdued excitement, and his lips compressed with strug- 
gling emotion, his friends looked up with a confident assur- 
ance that their champion would that day bear away the 
laurel-wreath, whilst his political enemies felt that they 
were again destined to gnaw the file of disappointment. 

When Andrew Johnson, first directed his attention to 
political affairs, and began to feel an interest in the result 
of party contests, he decided in favor of the Democratic 
party, and continued to be an earnest, active, and unwa- 
vering Democrat down to the time of the disruption of 
the Democratic party, by the breaking up of the Charles- 
ton Convention in 1856. His democracy is peculiar in its 
character. It is necessary that his speeches, messages, 
proclamations, etc., should be carefully read and studied, 
in order to a proper appreciation and understanding of 
his democracy. He is not merely a Democrat in the ordi- 
nary party sense of the term. His democracy does not 
9 



194 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

consist in a blind and bigoted devotion to the dogmas and 
measures of policy of the democratic creed, but to the 
philosophy of democratic principles, as constituting the 
groundwork of republican institutions. It cannot be 
fairly denied that the Democratic party is the only posi- 
tive representative * party (except, perhaps, the old Federal 
party) which has existed in our country. The other par- 
ties, the Whig, the National Kepubliean, the American, 
etc., have been parties of negation, of opposition to what 

* The author here begs leave to explain, lest he may be misunderstood. 
In speaking of democracy and the democratic element in our institutions, he 
does not mean to speak of it as expounded in party creeds, or embodied in 
democratic organizations, as such, by name. By no means. In the shiftings 
and mutations of parties, in order to the attainment of temporary triumph, 
it has frequently happened that rival parties occupy positions not only in re- 
gard to governmental policy, but to fundamental principles, the very reverse 
of those suggested by their party names. And in such cases the names be- 
longing to one party or the other, through the appliances of party machinery 
and confidence in their leaders, are led to do things directly in opposition to 
their professions and party designation. Hence it was that in the long and 
fierce conflicts between the Democratic and Whig parties in times past, the 
Democratic party was sometimes found contending for measures in direct con- 
travention of pure democratic principles, and in support of official prerogative 
and power, whilst the Whig party was found maintaining the former and re- 
sisting the latter. Still, it was in the name of democracy and of democratic 
principles, that the Democratic party was so long able to sustain themselves 
in power. And on those occasions on which the Whig party succeeded in 
electing a President, they triumphed by appealing to the people, in the name 
of the great democratic element which pervades our institutions, and by per- 
suading the masses that the Democratic party had deserted and proven false to 
the faith of the Democratic fathers. The meaning of the author is, that, in the 
main, the parties opposed to the Democratic party were parties of negation — of 
opposition to the maladministration of those in power. Parties in opposition 
have frequently occupied a positive position, and contended for positive and 
practical results, yet it has been only by appealing to the great democratic 
sentiment, and arousing the great democratic heart of the nation, that they 
have ever been able to oust the Democratic party from power. The author 
has felt called on to make this explanation, lest he might be considered as 
endorsing and sustaining the Democratic party as it existed heretofore, whilst, 
so far as this memoir is concerned, he ignores all party, both past and present. 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 195 

they regarded as the corruptions and excesses of democ- 
racy. Hence it is, when occasionally triumphing over the 
Democratic party, they have accomplished their mission, 
and have usually become disintegrated, having no vital 
positiveness of character to sustain them. Not so with 
the Democratic party. It was the embodied representa- 
tive of the popular element in its organization, its prog- 
ress, and development under our system of government. 
It was this philosophy of democracy, consisting of the 
ever-living principle of guarding the rights and privi- 
leges of the people against encroachment from every quar- 
ter, that Andrew Johnson has been the active and zealous 
champion of, all his days. The mere party cries of the 
day, the mere issues of " banks," " tariffs," " internal im- 
provements," etc., were of small moment with him, com- 
pared to the rights of the people under the Constitution, 
and the uncompromising defence and support of those 
rights when threatened. Every thing tending to special 
prerogative and exclusive privilege to a class, or to a cor- 
porate few, has always found in him a stern opponent. 

Mr. Johnson has been charged with being a demagogue 
by those who have felt the force of his popular eloquence, 
and were unable to combat it. But in this regard he has 
been treated unjustly. The term " demagogue " in its true 
generic sense (a leader of the populace, as contradistin- 
guished from the people) cannot be fairly applied to one 
whose theatre of operations has been among a rural people 
and a virtuous community, as was the case with Mr. 
Johnson. It is admitted that he is a great stickler for the 
rights of the masses. He has ever been popular with them, 
and they regard him as their friend. He has ever been 
ready to sound the approach of danger to their rights and 
their interests, and to warn them in time of the schemes 
of those who were preparing to injure them. But if a 



196 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

public man's opinions are to be judged of by bis recorded 
speecbes and productions, then may Mr. Johnson defy the 
taunts of the malignant in this regard. In his appeals to 
the people— in his defence of the rights of the people, he 
speaks of " the people " as the great mass of the communi- 
ty, of every position and relation, politically and socially. 
He does not mean a class ; nor does he mean the poor 
and the ignorant exclusively, where they might happen 
to constitute a majority. "When he contends for the rights 
of the people, by the people he means the great mass com- 
posing the body politic ; when he warns them against en- 
croachment on their rights, he means encroachment, not 
on the part of the wealthy and intelligent classes, as 
unjustly insinuated by some, but he means to warn them 
against any and all, even of and among themselves, who 
may attempt by unfair legislation, or intrigue and decep- 
tion in the administration of the law, to obtain special 
privileges for themselves at the neglect or sacrifice of popu- 
lar rights. 

It is not to be wondered at that Andrew Johnson 
should feel a strong attachment and regard for that great 
middle class, so to speak, which constitutes the large ma- 
jority of our population. From that class he sprang ; from 
it his early friendships and associations were formed ; by 
it he has been promoted and honored. He knows — what 
is an unquestioned fact — that in that is to be found more 
of sincerity, honesty, purity, hospitality, unselfish patriot- 
ism, in fact of nearly all the manly virtues, than in any 
other class. No one has studied more closely, or more 
thoroughly comprehends the peculiar traits, the wishes, the 
sympathies of the great mass of the people, than Mr. 
Johnson. This constitutes one of the principal elements of 
his success with them, when a candidate for any station 
whatever. The people have most thorough confidence in 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 107 

kirn — in his sincerity, his political honesty, his great re- 
gard for popular rights. They regard him as one of them- 
selves. Hence it is they are ever ready to resent any in- 
jury done him, as a wrong offered to themselves; and 
they feel that, in honoring and elevating him, they are 
simply doing justice to themselves. There probably never 
was a stronger attachment, a more unreserved confidence, 
existing between representative and constituent, than that 
between Mr. Johnson and the people of his district, when 
he represented them in Congress; or than that between 
him and the great mass of his constituency, when he was 
Governor of Tennessee. There was something morally 
beautiful in the relations of confidence and esteem existing 
between them ; in the cordial greeting with which they 
always met him when he returned among them ; and in 
the proud confidence with which they always spoke of him 
as their representative or their Governor. The appellation 
of " Andy," which they applied to him, was a term of en- 
dearment rather than of familiarity. 

Mr. Johnson has been unjustly charged by some as be- 
ing a cold, heartless man. There never was a greater mis- 
take. The world is so apt, however, to be mistaken in this 
regard, that it is not so much to be wondered at that Mr. 
Johnson's character should be misconceived as to the trait 
of character alluded to. How often it happens, in almost 
every one's experience, that those whom we once looked 
on as cold and callous, have been found, on knowing them 
well, to have warm and ardent temperaments, and tender 
and feeling hearts ! In fact, does it not accord with our 
experience, that those whom we have found to be the most 
generous and confiding, those whom we have come to re- 
gard as our most trusty and devoted friends, we first consid- 
ered as being distant,cold, and destitute of heart % It may 
be that those who do not know Mr. Johnson well, may 



198 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

consider liini a cold and unfeeling man. As lias been al- 
ready said of him, lie is not a man of forward and dem- 
onstrative character. Friendships, personal attachments, 
esteem and respect for private worth, are governed by the 
same laws that pervade the moral and physical world alike. 
When of quick growth and suddenly contracted, they are 
apt to be short-lived in their duration. When of slow 
growth, and based on convictions that bear the tests 
of time and the trials of adversity, they are likely to endure 
to the end. Ask any one who ever regarded Andrew 
Johnson as his friend, if the latter ever capriciously de- 
serted or neglected him in his day of adversity. He will 
reply, Never. Ask those who know him well, if they 
ever saw him turn a cold, deaf ear to the appeals of dis- 
tress, or if they ever saw him look with a careless and unfeel- 
ing eye on a picture of suffering and sorrow. They will 
tell you, Never. So far from it, they will assure you that 
sympathy for the sorrows of others is a prominent trait of 
his character. They will tell you that the enlarged benev- 
olence of his nature does not vent itself in mere declama- 
tory professions, but in acts, and deeds, and efforts to re- 
lieve the sorrows of others, to the extent of his power. It 
has been related to the author by one who knows Mr. 
Johnson well, and who has observed much of his course 
under trying and embarrassing circumstances, that he has 
know him when Governor of Tennessee to refuse pardon to 
those who had been convicted of capital and other heavy 
offences, again and again ; that he has known him on such 
occasions to stand firm and unmoved by the appeals of 
friends and the entreaties of written petitions, on the 
ground that, as a general rule, he was opposed to the in- 
terposition of executive clemency where, after a fair trial, 
a man was convicted by the unbiased judgment of 
twelve unprejudiced men. Yet, says our informant, in 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 199 

cases where the wife, or daughter, or mother of such cul- 
prit has suddenly and unexpectedly gained access to his 
person, and has beset him, amid tears and sobs, for the par- 
don of the convict, he has known Mr. Johnson to yield to 
such appeals, as if urged by a power he could not resist, 
to quickly snatch up a pen, sign the pardon, and seek re- 
lief from his feelings by pacing up and down the room. 
Can such a man as that have any other than a tender and 
feeling heart — a man so stern, so unyielding in every 
thing involving a discharge of official duty, and yet 
touched, overcome at the sight of a wife or mother in tears 
and affliction on account of those they loved ? 

There is one point of view in which Andrew Johnson's 
character has passed the ordeal of trial, in such a way as 
to secure for it the impress of true greatness. It strikes 
forcibly all who have observed him, that his elevation to 
the summit of power and of honor has wrought no change 
in his character or his bearing. He is the same plain, un- 
pretending, unaffected man he has always been. There is 
in his manner an entire absence of that bloated importance, 
that false and affected dignity, which are so apt to spoil 
many men suddenly elevated to high station, who may 
even be rightly disposed and well-meaning in other re- 
spects. He wears his honors with a meekness and quiet 
native dignity, which shows he fully appreciates the influ- 
ences which prevailed in his elevation. He seems to thor- 
oughly understand his position. He knows that he was 
placed in power with a view to benefit the public interests, 
and to subserve the public good ; and not for the mere pur- 
pose of gratifying private ambition or ministering to private 
pride. To be sure, there is honor conferred, the highest 
conceivable honor in being elected to such a position ; but 
the honor consists in heing thought worthy of and able to 
discharge such responsible duties, and in filling such an 



200 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON". 

honorable station. This Mr. Johnson seems to fully com- 
prehend. He labors incessantly. So arduous are his la- 
bors that he has left scarcely any time to devote to the so- 
cial relations of life. Kind and affable to his friends, civil 
and polite to strangers, he seems to forget the eminence of 
his station in his anxiety to do justice to all. Those who 
seek his presence go away with the conviction that his 
chief employment is the public service, his chief aim the 
public welfare. Of course, like other men, he has his per- 
sonal friends, who are admitted to a closer degree of confi- 
dence than others are ; but he has no back-stairs approach 
to his presence ; no cabal or clique who monopolize his fa- 
vors or his counsels ; no train-band of retainers who are to 
cater to his wishes in hunting up enemies to punish, 
or friends to reward. 

There is another peculiarity in Mr. Johnson which 
strikes forcibly all who come in contact with him, and 
which must be regarded as a most admirable trait in a man 
invested with great executive and administrative functions. 
He leaves no one at a loss to understand his meaning 
and his purposes on any given subject. He speaks in no 
Delphic oracles. He talks directly and to the point. He 
evidently does not believe in the saying attributed to 
Richelieu, that the great usefulness of language consists 
in enabling us to conceal our thoughts. He has not one 
set of opinions for one section of the country, and another 
set of opinions for another section, as has so often been the 
case with the aspiring politicians of our country. It is 
doubtful whether there has been any American statesman, 
in the last fifty years at least, whose opinions have been more 
clearly and unmistakably understood than Andrew John- 
son's. His judgment may or may not be correct, his views 
may or may not be popular ; but one thing is certain, there 
will never be any mistake as to what his decision or opinions 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 201 

may be on any given question. He always expresses them so 
boldly, clearly, and unequivocally, that politicians cannot 
distort or pervert them in such a way as to mislead the 
popular mind. This proceeds not only from the innate 
honesty and sincerity of his nature, which abhors dissimu- 
lation, but from his entire confidence in the people. His 
candid and undisguised course is not only the result of 
principle, but honesty he regards as the best policy, in or- 
der to insure permanent success, whether in private or pub- 
lic life. 

In conversation Mr. Johnson never affects brilliancy. 
He never in social intercourse attempts to lead, and still 
less to monopolize conversation. He is a good listener ; 
and yet he is fond of intellectual, lively, and instructive 
conversation. When conversing on subjects on which 
he entertains strong and decided convictions, he warms 
up ; and on such occasions strikes every one with his for- 
cible, decided, and ardent style. It has been said that 
he rarely indulges in hilarity. The general tone and cast 
of his character seems to incline to seriousness. His coun- 
tenance when at rest denotes deep thought. This is 
no doubt the result of the incidents and associations of his 
past life. So much of his early life was passed in reflection 
in " providing for his own household," at the time that he 
was preparing himself by study and observation for useful- 
ness in the public service, that reflection and contempla- 
tion seem to have become the natural habits of his life. 
And yet it is said by those who know him most intimate- 
ly, that when, in the hours of relaxation from the cares and 
duties of his station, he abandons himself to recreation, he 
is bright and joyous, playful and amusing with his chil- 
dren, and minute in his attention to his domestic pur- 
suits. 

There never was a more striking example offered of an 



202 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

enlarged benevolence, a freedom from all unkind feelings 
for past differences of opinion, and fitness and capacity for 
statesmanship in rallying all good and true men under the 
same conservative flag, than that now exhibited by Mr. 
Johnson. Although a man of decidedly strong party pro- 
clivities in past times, yet he ignores all past differences of 
opinion growing out of party affiliations, in the bestowal 
of official patronage, and in the selection of his political 
advisers in his present laborious efforts to readjust and 
reconstruct the relations between the North and the South, 
between the States and the General Government. Al- 
though a Democrat of the straitest sect of the Jackson 
school in former days, he now neither knows nor cares what 
may have been a man's party affiliations or political status 
in the past, provided he is now right on the great absorb- 
ing question of the times. He regards all the political is- 
sues of times gone by as merged in the important effort to 
restore and preserve the Union in its integrity and purity. 
He considers mere issues of governmental policy, when con- 
trasted with the salvation of the Government itself, as bub- 
bles floating on the surface, compared to the great deep on 
which the ark of our national unity and glory is riding in 
safety. It is a well-authenticated fact that, though always 
opposed to Mr. Clay's policy, yet he pays a high compli- 
ment to the old line Henry Clay Whigs by expressing his 
willingness to trust them, upon the ground that generally 
they are good and true Union men. In the bestowal 
of pardons under his amnesty proclamation, he is equally 
magnanimous. "With the exception probably of the 
" original secessionists," whom he regards — and rightfully, 
too — as sympathizing and affiliating with the organized 
conspiracy to destroy the Union, he is disposed to extend 
his clemency and forbearance to all those who under the 
duress of necessity were driven to follow their States in their 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 203 

wild and mad course toward disunion, provided they had 
been good Union men before, and regretted a state of 
things they were unable to resist. For the " original se- 
cessionists " — those who had systematically labored to 
bring about disunion, who had resisted all attempts to in- 
augurate measures for peace, and who had clamorously 
denounced every man who talked in favor of stopping the 
war, and who had by threats and vilification kept up 
a reign of terror in the South — for that class of men, An- 
drew Johnson cannot be supposed to have much sympathy 
in their sufferings, nor much indulgence for their political 
sins. They are the ones who have brought ruin and de- 
vastation on their country, who have draped almost every 
household in mourning, and caused so many hearts to bleed 
for the fate of the slain. Let these men carry out their 
boastful threats, to die rather than to submit to Northern 
domination, by making martyrs of themselves now that 
they have brought themselves and their country to a state 
of humiliation compared to which their situation before 
the war was the brightness of Elysium compared to the 
darkness of Hades. "Would it be surprising if Mr. John- 
son were found willing to leave these men, or the most 
prominent part of them at least, to that martyrdom for 
which they professed themselves to be prepared, rather 
than longer submit to the only practical grievance of which 
they could complain, viz., that a runaway negro occasion- 
ally escaped from one of the northern border slave States. 
It is certain if these men are willing, in their applications 
for pardon, to abide by the conditions laid down in Pope's 
" Universal Prayer " — 

" That mercy I to others show, 
That mercy show to me " — 

then their chance for pardon will be slim indeed. They 
showed no mercy to those who warned them of the con- 



204 LIFE OF ANDBEW JOHNSON. 

sequences of their folly. Those who said they were unwill- 
ing to fight against a Union they loved, were replied to 
by " conscription " acts ; those who complained of disunion 
as an evil they were unwilling to encounter, were an- 
swered with "repeals of the habeas corpus" "impress- 
ments," " tithing acts," etc. 

Mr. Johnson's peculiar aptitude, at the present time, for 
the position he occupies, is his moderation. Not that 
moderation, as supposed by some, consists in a want of 
firmness and decision. The contrary is rather the case. 
Ultraism on any question is usually the result of temper or 
of passion. With a right-minded and a right-hearted man, 
moderation is generally superinduced by reflection and 
calm consideration. No man, acting under the influence 
of temper or the impulses of passion, is calculated to mature 
and carry out great measures of public policy which are to 
endure for ages. It will not be denied that a four years' 
war, one of the most bloody on record, and waged with an 
unsparing ferocity on both sides, which it is sad to dwell 
on, has left a great amount of ill-feeling and resentment 
with both parties, which it will require years to finally ob- 
literate. It must also be admitted that it is the interest of 
both parties, constituting as they do integral portions of 
one great country, that the recollection of past injuries 
should give way to kind feelings, and that for angry resent- 
ments and sectional animosities should be substituted a 
brotherhood of common interests and common historical 
associations. The sooner this takes place the better for 
both separately, the better for the honor, prosperity, and 
happiness of the nation as a whole, and the better for the 
cause of free government throughout the world. Yery 
much depends upon who wields the chief executive power 
of the Government as to when and how this desirable state 
of things is to be consummated. Inasmuch as the present 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 205 

is an anomalous state of things, without precedent to guide 
— where the Constitution has, from very necessity, to he lent, 
as it were, to prevent its being broken — where the in- 
terests, the opinions, the feelings, the prejudices even, of 
both sections should be duly weighed and considered — 
where new questions are likely to be constantly arising, 
growing out of the complications of the times — it must 
strike every one how vastly important it is that the Presi- 
dent should be a man of great vigor of mind, of unshaken 
firmness, of unswerving justice, of patience, of forbear- 
ance, of moderation. Fortunately for the country, it may 
be claimed for Mr. Johnson that he comes as near, or 
nearer, to this standard of fitness as any other man in the 
country. 

Born and reared in the South, his social sympathies and 
associations must strongly attach him to that region. It 
contains the ashes of his parents. There the destiny of his 
children has been cast, and there they will probably live 
and die. There he was born and reared. There was the 
theatre of his early struggles against poverty, and of his 
triumph over adverse fortune. The people of the South 
had honored and elevated him. There he expects to return 
and make his home and find a grave, when wearied " with 
the storms of State " he may seek repose for the evening 
of his days in the quiet and peaceful pursuits of domestic 
life. How, then, can any Southern man distrust him, as not 
having kindly feelings for the Southern people, as not 
being ready and willing to do them ample justice ? 

On the other hand, can any reasonable and reflecting 
Northern man suspect him of an unwillingness to do 
justice to the views and feelings of the Northern people ? 
Such an insinuation, after the sacrifices he has made, 
would be not only injustice, but ingratitude. In the late 
bloody issue between the two sections, from a sense of duty 



206 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

he united his destiny with the North, or rather with 
the General Government, which consisted almost ex- 
clusively of the Northern element. He encountered 
obloquy, defamation, proscription, on the part of his own 
section, and placed at hazard his life even, if success had 
attended the Southern arms. Northern people did him 
the honor to place him in a position through which he con- 
stitutionally fills his present exalted station. By Northern 
votes he was elected. Can it therefore be supposed, for a 
moment, that he is insensible of the honor and confi- 
dence reposed in him by the people of the North, or that 
he is likely to disregard their wishes or their views of 
policy % Has he not shown a sensitive respect for the feel- 
ings of the North in retaining, as his confidential advisers, 
the Cabinet of Mr. Lincoln ? Has he not proven that he 
has not the least consideration or compromise for Southern 
disunionists and secessionists, by adding five additional 
classes to those who seek the benefit of the amnesty proc- 
lamation, in addition to the eight classes enumerated in 
Mr. Lincoln's proclamation ? Does he not, in this, show a 
determination to thoroughly sift the chaif from the wheat 
in the reorganization of the Government, which ought to 
be satisfactory to the most ultra Northern man ? 

It is very probable — in fact, the evidences of it are al- 
ready beginning to appear — that Andrew Johnson will not 
suit the extreme men of either section. Those at the 
South who wish to see the authors and agents of the dis- 
union movement placed on the same footing with those 
who resisted it in the readjustment of our difficulties, will 
probably denounce him as a heartless tyrant, who is dis- 
posed to obliterate the last vestige of the rights of the 
States. Those at the North who wish to see the Southern 
States reduced to mere territorial appendages, thus con- 
founding the innocent and the loyal with the wicked and 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 207 

rebellious, and who wish to see another " bloody assizes " 
inaugurated, where some brutal Jeffreys may satiate his 
thirst for slaughter, may denounce Mr. Johnson as a faith- 
less renegade who has sympathy and compassion for South- 
ern traitors. All this only proves his peculiar fitness for 
the office which he fills. There is something of the moral 
sublime in the attitude of a man who, making duty his 
polar star, stands firm and unshaken like a mighty break- 
water resisting the storms and tides of faction and violence 
from the one side or the other, and whose only reply to their 
denunciation and injustice is, that he is determined to 
save them, and their country for them, even against 
themselves. 

So far as are concerned the old party issues before the 
war, based on differences of opinion as to the proper 
policy to be observed in the administration of the Govern- 
ment, they are gone forever. They have been buried in 
the graves of those who fell in the contest during the late 
carnival of blood. 



CHAPTER XY. 

Difficulties which beset the President— The Qualities required for his Station 
—Old Party Issues said to be Dead— Issues of Greater Moment— Rationale 
of Mr. Lincoln's Call for Troops— Views of the Ultraists North and South 
—Fortunate thing for the South that Mr. Johnson has taken the Position 
he does— Fortunate for the North that Mr. Johnson Entertains the Views 
he d e S _Imp ortant that Harmony should be Restored between the two 
Sections as soon as Possible— Suffrage for the Blacks mooted— Vote of 
Connecticut. 

It must be readily seen and admitted, on all hands, 
that President Johnson has a troublesome and laborious 
task before him. His way is beset with difficulties of no 
ordinary magnitude. The onerous duties of his station 
require a combination of qualities and of virtues that 
rarely fall to the lot of one and the same man. Talent of 
the highest order will be necessary in grappling with the 
many new issues likely to be developed by the new order 
of things. Patriotism of the most enlarged national 
character will be requisite in nicely balancing the conflict- 
ing opinions and jarring views of policy in the two sec- 
tions. Firmness of the most unbending nature will be 
called for in resisting the importunities of the violent, the 
earnest entreaties of the unfortunate, the schemes of the 
selfish, and the clamors of the censorious. The most pa- 
tient and untiring labor will be indispensable in performing 
the duties which will be forced on the Executive by the 
complications of the times. The most rigid virtue and 
most scrupulous honesty will be demanded in the selection 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 209 

of proper agents to administer the Government in its new 
relations, and in the management of those immense finan- 
cial resources compared with which the wealth of Croesus 
sinks into insignificance. Added to these, will be needed 
a vast fund of common sense and of sound practical judg- 
ment in adapting his action to the variety of circumstances 
under which he maj be called on to exercise his functions. 
He cannot lay down any iron rule, any Medo-Persian law, 
for his guidance, except so far as a conformity to the ab- 
stract principles of truth and justice are concerned. 
Neither can he cut himself loose from, and disregard en- 
tirely, all rule and system in his administrative policy. 
Plutarch, in his life of Solon, lays it down that " our 
judgment of actions should be formed according to the 
respective times and postures of affairs. An able politi- 
cian, to manage all for the best, varies his conduct as the 
present occasion requires ; often quits a part to save the 
whole : and by yielding in small matters, secures advan- 
tages in those of greater moment." 

It has been said that old party issues are dead. So 
they are. As to whether we shall have a revenue tariff or 
a protective tariff — and if for protection, whether that 
shall be direct or incidental — is a question not likely to 
be mooted for the next generation. Our enormous debt 
creates such a demand for money, that a revenue tariff now 
must be sufficiently protective to answer the wishes of the 
most ultra advocates of protection. As to whether one 
national bank or the sub-treasury system is preferable, 
that may be regarded as an obsolete question since we have 
several hundred " national banks " in operation. As to 
land distribution, by common consent the lands are wanted 
for other purposes. As to the improvement of harbors 
and rivers, we shall hear no more of States or representa- 
tives refusing to receive appropriations for their respective 



210 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

sections on the ground of unconstitutionality or State pride 
forbidding it. 

But issues of greater moment, and far more exciting in 
their character, are now being mooted — not involving the 
system of governmental policy to be pursued under the 
Government, after the proper relations are adjusted, and 
the conflicting views harmonized between the two sections, 
but involving the very questions of how these very ques- 
tions are to he adjusted — how these conflicting views are to 
be harmonized. The first question which presented itself — 
which met Mr. Johnson at the threshold — was this : What 
is the status, what the relations, occupied by the seceding 
States toward the National Government ? Were they ever 
out of the Union, or have they all the time remained in 
the Union ? The adoption of a decided position on that 
question was necessary, on Mr. Johnson's part, as a rule for 
his governance in the exercise of his official functions 
toward restoring the normal relations of the two sections, 
and between the seceding States and the General Govern- 
ment. He could not avoid a decision of the question, 
for upon that decision depended the course of action he 
would be called on to adopt. He decided — or rather he 
persisted in the opinion which he had maintained from the 
first — that the States had never been out of the Union. 
In this decision he was clearly right, and it must be re- 
garded as a very fortunate thing for both sections and for 
the Government, as a whole, that he did make that de- 
cision. 

Under the Constitution of the United States, formed 
and adopted by representatives of the people of all the 
States, the laws of the General Government act directly on 
the citizen— not in his character as a citizen of the State, 
but in his character of a citizen of the United States. 
This relation can be changed only by peaceable agreement 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 211 

among the parties, in the mode pointed out in the instru- 
ment, or forcibly by arms. An assemblage of delegates 
calling itself a " convention " in a State, may, by resolu- 
tion or " ordinance," say such State is out of the Union, 
but that does not make it so. The General Government, 
in the enforcement of its acts, looks only to the Constitu- 
tion, which declares itself and all laws and treaties passed 
in pursuance thereof, to be " the supreme law of the landP 
It therefore looks to the citizen only in case of resistance 
to the execution of the laws, it ignores all causes or motives 
inducing or sanctioning such resistance. That was the 
rationale of Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, and of the march- 
ing of armies to the South. It was not to " coerce States," 
as absurdly charged by some, but it was to remove the 
obstruction offered by individuals to the execution of the 
laws. It was not the adoption of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence in 1776, that effected the separation of the colo- 
nies from the British crown. It was the making good that 
declaration by force of arms. Suppose the colonies, instead 
of succeeding, had been reduced to subjection ; would they 
not have been remanded to their original status as it was 
before the war began % Would they not have been entitled 
to claim all the privileges to which they were entitled 
under the British constitution and laws before the struggle 
commenced ? Those who contend that the ordinances of 
secession took the States out of the Union, prqprio vigore, 
yield the whole question as to the constitutionality or 
legality of secession. If an ordinance of secession can take 
a State out of the Union, then of course the laws of the 
Union are no longer operative in that State; and the 
waging of war against such State could not be defended on 
the ground of enforcing the laws. It could be defended 
only on the ground of punishing such State for an un- 
willingness to longer remain under the same Government, 



212 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

with the coercing power. The argument seems to be un- 
answerable. If the passing an ordinance of secession by a 
State really operates to effect secession, it must be because 
there is nothing in the Constitution of the United States to 
forbid it. That would convert the Government into a 
mere league that may be terminated at the mere will and 
pleasure of the parties to it. Here extremes meet. The 
ultra-radical element in the North and the extreme 
" State-rights " element in the South concur in the opin- 
ion that the States that passed ordinances of secession, 
are out of the pale of the Union. The former are forced 
to occupy that ground, in order to secure a stand-point 
from which they may gratify a feeling of vengeance. To 
do so, they must first deprive the offending States of all 
protection under the Constitution. The latter occupy the 
same ground, either from the delusion that first hurried 
them into their wicked crusade against the Union, or 
because they wish to secure a stand-point from which they 
may contend that, not having been in the Union, they are 
not amenable to the law of treason under it. Although 
both are equally wrong in their conclusions, yet there is 
more of consistency and plausibility in the course of the 
latter than of the former. For, if the seceding States have 
been out of the Union, their people are no more amenable 
to the laws of the Union, no more subject to punishment 
for their violation, than if they lived in France or Spain. 

In what an awkward position do those who contend 
that the seceding States are out of the Union, place Mr. 
Johnson ! How could he represent Tennessee in the Con- 
gress of the United States, if Tennessee was out of the 
Union? Mr. Johnson was, at the time of his nomination, 
had been for nearly forty years, and still is, a citizen of Ten- 
nessee. How could he have been nominated and elected 
constitutionally, if he was a foreigner % For a foreigner 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 213 

to the United States he must have been, if Tennessee was 
not in the Union. Is it to be supposed for a moment that 
Mr. Johnson will stultify, disfranchise, denationalize him- 
self, by admitting that Tennessee, by any mere dictum of 
a body of her citizens assembled, could discharge him from 
his allegiance to the Union % Can it be supposed, after all 
the sacrifices he has made, and the obloquy he has sub- 
mitted to for four long years, on account of his filial rev- 
erence and devotion to the Union, that he will now yield 
this invaluable birthright — his patrimony in this inherit- 
ance of national honor and glory ? This he would do, by 
admitting that for four years he has been an outsider — that 
he was allowed to hold a seat in the Senate, and compli- 
mented with the nomination for the Yice-Presidency, by a 
sort of strained perversion of the Constitution. 

It has been said it was a fortunate tiling for the South 
that Mr. Johnson had taken the position he has done on 
this question. And so it is. If the insurgent States have 
been out of the Union, on the restoration of peace they 
have no right under it, they are not under the protecting 
segis of the Constitution. Their only hope on being con- 
quered, or surrendering at discretion without the stipula- 
tion of any conditions in a treaty of peace, was in the 
clemency of the conqueror. They are in the condition of 
every people or nation who, having submitted a dispute to 
the arbitrament of the sword, were finally subjugated and 
compelled to yield without terms. They can claim no 
rights but the rights of humanity, and magnanimity to a 
fallen foe. This would leave the Southern States at the 
mercy of the conquerors. Their condition would be much 
more unfortunate than that of the weakest State in Europe 
under similar circumstances. For in Europe there is 
among the ruling Powers a jealousy of national safety, and 
of self-protection, which preserves a " balance of power " a 



214 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

sort of undefinable moral force, which will not allow one 
Power to conquer and absorb another that is weaker, 
except at the hazard of a war with all the Powers com- 
bined. On the North American continent there is no such 
"balance of power." One colossal power — the United 
States — in its relations to other Governments and nations, 
knows no restraint upon its will but its own discretion. 
No Power or combination of Powers in other regions of the 
globe will dare gainsay its wishes or the exercise of its 
authority on this continent. 

But if it be true, as assumed by Mr. Johnson, that the 
seceding States have never been out of the Union, then 
they are entitled to all the guaranties of the Constitution. 
If members of the Union, as States at all, they must, 
according to the express provision of the Constitution, 
possess and enjoy all the rights, privileges, immunities, 
and advantages of the other States. In arranging their 
systems of internal domestic policy, they are subject to no 
other inhibitions than those to be found in the Constitu- 
tion. The other States, in no matter how large a majority, 
cannot impinge upon their rights in this regard, without at 
the same time subjecting themselves to the same condi- 
tions. The idea which has been already advanced in certain 
quarters, but which it is to be hoped does not prevail 
except to a very limited extent, viz., that of holding the 
conquered States as colonial dependencies under military 
sway, is likely to meet with an insuperable obstacle in 
President Johnson's firmness and decision of character. 
The unconstitutionality of such a course has been com- 
mented on. But even if there were no constitutional diffi- 
culty, on the score of policy such a course would be very 
objectionable. It would be in direct contravention of all 
those professions of devotion for, and appeals in favor of 
the Union and the flag, by which the national heart was 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 215 

warmed up, and which sent hundreds of thousands from 
the North to encounter the perils of war. Their graves 
are scattered from Gettysburg to the Rio Grande ; and it 
would be desecrating their memories to pervert the noble 
object of " restoring the Union," for which they fell, into 
the gratification of sectional hatred and vengeance. Those 
who fought for the flag, fought for the preservation of it in 
its entirety, and not for the purpose of obliterating twelve 
stars from its galaxy. President Johnson considers himself 
— and very properly so — President of the whole United 
States. A sense of self-respect, as well as of public duty, 
will not allow him to see any portion of that area over 
which his official functions extend, converted from a fertile 
field into a barren desert. 

It has been said it was fortunate for the North, too, 
that Mr. Johnson entertains the views which he does on 
this subject. This is easy of demonstration. The sooner 
the Southern States are restored to their original position 
in the Union, the sooner will their industrial resources be 
developed, and an impetus given to enterprise and improve- 
ment. The sooner military rule gives way to civil law, 
and the Southern States are left to the entire and exclusive 
management of their own internal affairs, and to a free and 
equal participation in the national councils, the sooner will 
despondency give way to hope, and the people wake up to 
an appreciation of their true condition, and adapt them- 
selves to the circumstances by which they are surrounded. 
The sooner harmony and good feeling are restored between 
the two sections, the sooner will the products of the South 
seek the markets of the North ; the sooner will manufactur- 
ers of foreign imports of the North find a market in the 
South. The pursuits of the South being almost exclu- 
sively agricultural, of course the manufacturers of the 
North find it greatly to their interest to preserve such an 



216 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

extensive and profitable market. The shipping and com- 
mercial interests of the North must be greatly interested in 
the carrying-trade both ways, not only between the North 
and the South, but between this country and the markets 
of the world. The capitalists and other moneyed interests 
of the North are deeply interested in promoting the pros- 
perity and developing the resources of the South. It is 
mainly by the exportation of Southern products that the 
foreign importations in our country are paid for; thus 
equalizing the balance of trade, and preventing the ex- 
portation of specie from our country. 

Perhaps it may be said that this will continue to be 
the case, as heretofore, no matter what status may be en- 
forced on the Southern States. By no means. Is it to be 
supposed that the Southern people are so unlike the bal- 
ance of mankind, that they will not feel the sting of what 
they would regard as an indignity put on them, not be- 
cause of its necessity, but merely to gratify a feeling of vin- 
dictiveness ? True, they are thoroughly subdued, so far 
as further physical resistance is concerned ; but it is not 
reasonable to suppose that they are so free from the im- 
pulses of human nature as not to resist the indignity in 
the only way in their power. In the first place, their 
spirits would be so crushed, that industry and energy 
would make but slow progress for years and years to come. 
They would feel but little concern for a country in whose 
honor, prosperity, and glory they had no share, or in a 
Government which they felt only through its power and 
oppression. Men who feel that they are free, prosperous, 
and happy citizens of a free, prosperous, and happy coun- 
try, can work with a will and an alacrity unknown to those 
who constantly feel the gallings of the yoke of bondage, 
even if the promptings of want and of self-interest should 
stimulate to labor, and the substitution of white for black 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 217 

labor should, as predicted by some, vastly increase the 
wealth and power of the Southern States — may we not 
suppose, that looking on the people of the North as their 
oppressors, they would avoid all possible contact with 
them, and encourage a direct trade between their own 
ports and foreign markets? Interest and sound policy 
would suggest such a system of direct trade, anyhow. If 
getting rid of slavery is likely to arouse the Southern 
people to an appreciation of their best interests, is it the 
part of wisdom for the North to discourage instead of 
fostering that system of commercial intercourse under 
which both sections have heretofore prospered % It certain- 
ly behooves the North, not only from a spirit of magnanim- 
ity, but through the dictates of policy, to do nothing now 
to exasperate the people of the South, merely to gratify 
feelings of unkindness, and to exult insultingly over a 
fallen foe. 

It is important and necessary to the interests of the en- 
tire country in a national point of view, that harmony 
should be restored between the two sections as soon as pos- 
sible. The Scripture maxim of a " house divided against 
itself " is as applicable in the national and political as 
in the private and moral world. The only rivalry that 
should exist among the different parts of the same country 
is, which can do most in advancing the common interest, 
power, and prosperity of the whole. This must be the re- 
sult, no matter how intent each part may be in pursuing 
its own interest, provided it abstains from all interference 
or encroachment upon the rights and privileges of the 
other parts. President Johnson's nationality of character 
is likely to prove a great blessing to his country. It 
proves him to be the man, of all others, for the require- 
ments of the times — the man of destiny, as it were. He 
has seen enough of strife — not only of the strife of arms, 
10 



218 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

but the strife of words and of feelings. He wishes to see 
his country not only prosperous and powerful, but united 
and happy. 

There is another question which is beginning to be 
mooted, and which, from the outgivings of the newspaper 
press, it is to be feared may become an element in the 
formation of new parties. The question alluded to is that 
of suffrage by the emancipated blacks. This subject is 
unwisely and prematurely thrust forward as an element 
of mischief, calculated to mar the prospects of an amica- 
ble arrangement of past differences, and to keep alive un- 
pleasant associations. Heaven knows we had enough of 
the negro for the last four years. The South went to war 
on the abstract theory of slavery in the Territories, and 
like the dog in the fable, by clutching at the shadow lost 
the substance. The great mass of the Southern people 
have made up their minds to abide the issue. They are 
willing to leave the solving of the problem, in its details, 
to the operation of time. But the sudden introduction of 
the question of the political status of the freedmen can do 
no good, and it may do much harm. Neither the North- 
ern nor the Southern mind has sufficiently quieted down 
from its effervescent condition, to take a calm and fair 
view of the subject. Let the white race of the South 
have time to acquiesce gracefully in the loss of such an 
immense amount of property. Let the black race have 
time to adjust themselves to the great change already 
taken place in their condition. And let the people of the 
North be content for the present with their victory and 
their triumph. As to whether it may be advisable for the 
Southern States hereafter to extend the privilege of voting 
to the colored race, when they shall have become suffi- 
ciently enlightened and improved to appreciate the im- 
portance of civil and political rights, that is another ques- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 219 

tion. It is a question on which it is not deemed proper 
now to express any opinion. As to the merits of the ques- 
tion, in the abstract, whether the Southern States should 
extend to the blacks the right of suffrage, Mr. Johnson 
has not committed himself, by expressing an opinion one 
way or the other. In this he exhibits his usual sagacity 
and statesmanship. lie says it is a question for the States 
themselves. In this he is clearly right, and his well-known 
firmness affords the best guaranty that neither frowns nor 
threats, neither coaxing nor censure, can drive him from 
his position. As to exacting from the Southern people 
that they shall conform to the result of the issue tendered 
by themselves, those who know any thing of his character 
know that he will not falter. But as to requiring from 
some States conditions not imposed on all of them, in that 
is involved a principle of official duty which he cannot 
ignore or disregard — a principle of constitutional law 
which appeals to his judgment, and of simple fair play 
and justice, which appeals to his feelings as a man. And 
where duty is concerned, Andrew Johnson is not to be 
found swerving in the hour of trial. 

There must be too much conservatism, too high a sense 
of justice among the people of the North, to attempt to 
enforce on the Southern States a change in their constitu- 
tions, so as to provide for the black race to vote in elec- 
tions. Upon what ground can such an argument be 
based % It is true the doctrine of " State-rights ? ' has been 
perverted to such wicked purposes as to cast odium and 
ridicule upon the very name. But still there is such a 
thing. It is not to be found in the constitutions of the 
States, nor in the crotchets of Southern politicians. It is 
to be found in the Constitution of the United States. 
That Constitution recognizes a perfect equality of political 
rights among all the States. It goes further. It expressly 



220 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

recognizes the rights of the States to regulate the qualifi- 
cation for suffrage within their borders, by making the 
right to vote for President depend upon the State regula- 
tion as to the qualification to vote for a member of the 
lower house of the Legislature in such State. The case is 
so plain, that there is no ground for argument. To state 
the proposition to any one who has ever read the Consti- 
tution, is to prove it. An argument in favor of the Gen- 
eral Government imposing on the States the constitutional 
qualification for suffrage within their borders, would be 
an argument in favor of violating the Constitution. As 
that argument would necessarily have to be based on the 
propriety or impracticability of disregarding the obliga- 
tions of an oath, that being a question of ethics, would be 
out of place here. 

Connecticut has lately voted on the question of extend- 
ing the right of suffrage to her colored men, through a 
change in her constitution. Are not the people of Con- 
necticut willing that Tennessee should have the same right 
of deciding that question for herself that she (Connecti- 
cut) has lately exercised 1 Just think of it, that Virginia, 
that surrendered the vast Northwest Territory, out of which 
so many great and flourishing States have been formed, 
and that, too, on the condition that slavery should be for- 
ever excluded therefrom, should now be told by Ohio, In- 
diana, Illinois, etc. (her own children), " 'Tis true we do 
not allow black men to vote in our States, but as for you, 
you must allow it, and you shall allow it, otherwise you 
shall remain in a territorial condition, and not come into 
the Union at all ! " The gallant and magnanimous people 
of the Northwest will never be guilty of such political 
impiety and injustice as this. 

It does not require any very extraordinary amount of 
sagacity to perceive why this question has been thus inop- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 221 

portunely introduced, and is being agitated at tins time. 
No one can be imposed on by the pretence that it origi- 
nates in a feeling of kindness for the negro. If it grew 
out of a feeling of charity of that kind, that charity would 
"begin at home" in an effort to make the provision apply 
to all the States. Besides, if the black man should be en- 
titled to vote, he should be entitled to be voted for. And 
here is the secret of the movement. The votes of the col- 
ored race are not wanted for their operation at home, but 
with reference to their influence elsewhere. The move- 
ment is a political one — the ends aimed at are political. 
If Mr. Johnson had taken ground in favor of imposing on 
the Southern States this provision in their constitutions 
in favor of negro suffrage, it is doubtful whether we should 
have heard of the agitation of the question in the quarter 
from whence it comes. No Northern man can suspect 
Mr. Johnson of having any sympathies or affiliations with 
slavery as it formerly prevailed. So far from it, he was 
among the very first to proclaim that slavery had brought 
on the war. And at a time when many Northern politi- 
cians, who now oppose Mr. Johnson's policy, evaded the 
question, or touched it very gingerly, he took a decided 
stand in favor of holding the South up to the consequences 
of the issue they had provoked. 



CHAPTEK XVI. 

Course of Mr. Johnson relative to the Institution of Slavery— Brief View 
of the Acts and Doings of the Secessionists— Nullification in South 
Carolina— New System of Political Ethics on the Question of Slavery- 
Origin of Slavery Propagandism on the part of the Ultra Men of the 
South— A Great Error committed by the South— The Pretext for Disunion 
— Commercial Conventions — Remark of Mr. Calhoun — Charleston Con- 
vention of 1860 — Rupture at Baltimore — Views of Mr. Lincoln — State of 
Parties in Congress— Views of the Secessionists — Slavery might have 
been Saved to the South and put beyond the reach of Danger. 

There is one question on which, to a superficial ob- 
server who had not taken the pains to inform himself of 
the facts, President Johnson's course might appear some- 
what inconsistent and vacillating. The question alluded 
to is that of slavery. A thorough investigation of his 
course on this subject will show that he has been governed 
by the same high regard for principle which has actuated 
him throughout his life. During his entire Congressional 
career of fourteen years, he was the ardent, earnest, bold, 
and consistent advocate of the constitutional rights of the 
Southern people and the Southern States to their slave 
property. ISTo man in the South had more uniformly 
and more ably and energetically battled for the rights 
and interests of the South on this subject than he had. 
As long as the institution of slavery involved the rights 
of property, under the protection of the Constitu 
tion and subordinate to it, he sustained and defended it. 
Those mischievous agitators at the North who advocated 
disunion as a means of disconnecting themselves with 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 223 

slavery, met with no favor from him. His denunciations 
of them were unsparing. As long as he conld do so, con- 
sistently with his loyalty to the Constitution and the 
Union, he maintained the rights of the Southern people to 
their slave property. He heartily cooperated with the 
efforts of the true friends of the Union in the " Peace Con- 
gress " of March, 1861, in trying to harmonize the two 
sections. Even after the war had commenced, as hereto- 
fore explained, he introduced a resolution declaring the 
war should be waged for the preservation of the Union 
only, and should be confined to that result. But when 
every effort at peace and conciliation had been made, and 
had failed — when he saw that the disunionists had made 
the institution of .slavery the instrument for combating and 
destroying the Union — when he saw the issue fairly joined, 
and that either the Union or slavery must yield in the 
struggle — he did not hesitate. He gave up slavery to the 
fate which the disunionists had brought upon it. It was 
just as he had predicted. He had again and again warned 
the people, and their representatives, of the South, that in 
their mad attempts to sever the Union they would destroy 
slavery. He had also warned them that he would not 
unite with them in their fight for slavery outside the Union 
— that its only protection was under the guaranties of the 
Constitution — and that, whenever they threw away this 
shield of protection, slavery as an institution must perish. 
So that Mr. Johnson did not deceive or mislead any one. 
So far from it, he had most unequivocally declared, on 
many occasions, that he intended to adhere to the Consti- 
tution and the Union at all hazards. 

Mr. Johnson had been an attentive observer of the 
political movements of the times. He saw that the seces- 
sion operations of the Southern States were the consum- 
mation of a fixed purpose and of a deep-laid conspiracy to 



224 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

destroy the Union, that had been organized for thirty 
years. A brief review of the acts and doings of the con- 
spirators, from 1831 to 1861, clearly establishes this charge. 

The nullification ordinance of South Carolina, in 1832, 
although passed under a pretended unwillingness to destroy 
the Union, was arranged with a special view to that result. 
The public mind in that State had been educated to believe 
that nullification was a peaceful remedy under the Consti- 
tution — that under its operation the people of that State 
would be rid of an odious and oppressive law, without in- 
curring the danger of war. Her leading men knew — they 
could not help knowing — that General Jackson would re- 
sort to force in executing the laws, and that thereby, as 
they supposed, the other Southern States would, from the 
sympathy of a common interest and a common locality, 
take part with her in case of a conflict. From the demon- 
strations of public sentiment in these other Southern States, 
however, the leaders in South Carolina saw plainly that 
they would not take part with her, but would leave her to 
her fate. Then it was that South Carolina backed down 
from her position of nullification under the fortunate pre- 
text of the tariff compromise of 1832. It has been per- 
fectly apparent to the whole country, from that day to 
this, that South Carolina was discontented, moody, and 
churlish. The speeches of her prominent men teemed with 
the most glowing accounts of what the South would be as 
an independent country, separated from- the North — that 
the interests of the two sections were diverse and conflict- 
ing — that the South was oppressed and impoverished by 
the connection — and dwelling upon its prosperity, wealth, 
and future greatness, if allowed to develop her resources 
freed from the depressing influences of the Union. 

Shortly after the nullification movement commenced in 
1832, a new system of political ethics, on the question of 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 225 

slavery, began to be agitated throughout the South. The 
doctrine of the early fathers of the Republic, concurred in 
by nearly all the leading statesmen of the South, had been 
that slavery, as a mere institution considered in the abstract, 
had been an evil to the white race, wherever it existed. 
Washington, and all the early Presidents, had taken this 
view of the subject, and had spoken hopefully of a time in 
the future when the Southern States would, of their own ac- 
cord, make provision for the discontinuance of slavery. 
Here was the true, the strong, the impregnable basis, on 
which to have rested the institution — viz., that slavery was 
an existent fact, entailed on the present generation by the 
cupidity, first of British, and afterwards of Northern com- 
mercial enterprise ; that the Southern people were not to 
blame for it — that it was their misfortune, but not their 
fault. Slavery had ever presented difficulty and trouble to 
Southern statesmen. They had, scarcely without an ex- 
ception, admitted its evils, and regretted its existence. The 
framers of the Constitution of the United States had had to 
grapple with the difficulty ; and in fixing the relations be- 
tween the General Government and the States on this sub- 
ject, they probably placed slavery on the most secure and 
satisfactory basis possible under the circumstances. The 
framers of the Constitution of the United States left slavery 
where they found it — as a local institution, to be regulated 
by the local law where it existed ; and if an evil, an evil to 
be remedied and modified by the white race among whom 
it prevailed. Down to 1832, the public sentiment of the 
whole country, North and South, sustained the true con- 
stitutional and conservative view of the question of 
slavery. The people of the North, with a few very incon- 
siderable exceptions, were for leaving the South undisturb- 
ed on the subject, where slavery existed by the local law. 
The people of the South, with equally few exceptions, sim- 



226 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

ply asked to be let alone and to be allowed to deal with 
what they admitted to be an evil to them, without asking 
or wishing to extend the institution of slavery among any 
other people who did not desire it, or where the laws of Na- 
ture would not carry it. After the abortive attempt at 
nullification in 1832, the leaders and agitators, who had 
been foiled in that movement, started the idea of " uniting 
the South," as they termed it. Knowing the sensitiveness 
of the Southern people on the subject of slavery — that 
although they regarded slavery as an evil to themselves, 
yet they would brook no interference with it where it ex- 
isted, by those who had no concern with it — they conclud- 
ed to raise the " cry " of slavery agitation. They allowed 
a handful of crazy fanatics at the North to force them 
into a false position. They met the issue tendered them by 
Garrison and his few co-laborers, who insisted that slavery 
was a great social, moral, and political evil, by taking the 
opposite ground that it was a moral, social, and political 
blessing. 

Here was the origin of slavery propagandism, on the 
part of the ultra men of the South. Having assumed the 
position that slavery was a blessing, they easily persuaded 
themselves into the belief that it was their duty to extend 
it wherever it could be forced, not only because it was 
right of itself, but for the purpose of gaining additional 
political strength for its maintenance and support. The 
authors and leaders of the nullification movement had in- 
dignantly disclaimed all idea or purpose of disunion, al- 
though it would seem that every rational man must have 
perceived that nullification, to be effective, must have led 
either to disunion or civil war. But with the sentiment of 
slavery propagandism marched that of disunion, side by 
side. From the position that slavery was a blessing, was 
rapidly developed the idea that a confederation of slave- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 227 

holding States exclusively would be the very perfection of all 
government. For years this idea was promulgated by a por- 
tion of the Southern press, and the ultra men in Congress 
from the South. The happiness, prosperity, wealth, and 
greatness of the South were dwelt upon and depicted in the 
most glowing colors, as certain in the future, in case that 
section could be disconnected from the North, and be left 
to develop its powers and resources by itself, and in ac- 
cordance with its own system of policy. For years these 
ideas made but slow progress among the masses of the 
Southern people. Love of the Union was a deep-seated 
sentiment in their minds and hearts. But the leaders 
made up in zeal, ability, concert of action, and determina- 
tion of purpose for what they lacked through paucity 
of numbers. Although public opinion was sound and 
conservative, it offered no open resistance to the agitators. 
Men rarely interpose any practical opposition to the spread 
of heretical and false ideas, as long as they themselves are 
not directly injured thereby. Then, again, the fear of de- 
nunciation, the dread of being charged with a want of 
fealty to the South, deterred thousands from making open 
resistance to the spread of slavery propagandist disunion 
sentiments. They remained quiescent, rather than enter 
into a conflict with the self-constituted organs of public 
opinion. Thus it was that nine-tenths of the Southern 
people were opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise, and the attempt to force slavery on the people of 
Kansas against their wishes, and yet they remained quiet, 
and acquiesced, rather than incur the charge of disloyalty 
to their section, on the part of the agitators, few as these 
latter were, comparatively, in numbers. 

The South committed a great error, proved woefully 
blind to its own interests, when it allowed a few active 
zealots, who claimed to be the organs of public opinion, 



22S LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

to tender the issue that slavery was a blessing to the white 
race among whom it existed, and to fight the battle from 
that stand-point. The position was an erroneous one, and 
could not stand the test of argument and investigation. 
Slavery never was a blessing to the white race ; instead 
thereof, it was an evil. The advancement and propaga- 
tion of this idea did violence to the feelings of the North- 
ern people. It drove off or neutralized thousands of the 
strongest and staunchest friends and defenders which the 
South had theretofore had in the North. The South was 
secure in all its rights under the Constitution, and in that 
sense of justice prevailing throughout the civilized world, 
which recognized the Southern people as not responsible 
for the existence of slavery among them ; and if an evil, 
an evil for which they alone could provide the remedy in 
their own way and at their own time. The right policy 
of the South was a defensive policy. As long as it acted 
on that policy, it was safe and secure. But when it 
changed that policy and adopted an aggressive one, it lost 
the prestige of its invincibility. It strengthened its enemies, 
and it weakened and discouraged its friends at the North. 
The course pursued by the Southern people on this subject 
of slavery was like that of a general who, with an army 
far inferior in numbers to that of his adversary, yet has it 
posted behind intrenchments that are impregnable, but 
who, instead of remaining on the defensive, voluntarily 
leaves his strong position, for the purpose of attacking the 
enemy from a weak and indefensible point, where he is 
cut off and destroyed by overwhelming odds. The cause 
which the Southern people put forward as a pretext for 
disunion (the election of Mr. Lincoln), was the result of 
their own aggressive policy. But for the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise and the effort to force the Lecompton 
Constitution on the people of Kansas, Mr. Lincoln would 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 229 

never have been elected President. The Southern people 
were warned again and again of the dreadful consequences 
that would result from the attempt to dissolve the Union. 
They were warned and entreated, not only by their friends 
and sympathizers in the North, but by many of the truest 
and most patriotic of their own sons, and by none more 
earnestly and pathetically than by Andrew Johnson. Mr. 
Johnson cannot be charged with having deceived or mis- 
led any one. Whilst his previous record shows that he 
had ever been a most earnest and zealous advocate of the 
rights of the South, he had always declared that he would 
fight the battle nowhere but in the Union, and under the 
Constitution. He had often said in Congress, that slavery 
could not be preserved in the South, except in the Union, 
and under the guaranties of the Constitution. And he 
had often given notice that when the suicidal attempt 
should be made, to resort to a dissolution of the Union, as 
a means of maintaining slavery, he should be found bat- 
tling for the preservation of the Union. 

After the failure of the nullification movement in 1832, 
there commenced being held a series of " Commercial 
Conventions " at different points in the South, Montgom- 
ery, Richmond, Charleston, Memphis, etc., the pretended 
object of which was to advance the commercial interests 
and develop the commercial resources of the South. It 
so happened that the South Carolina politicians generally 
took the lead in these conventions. But no one could be 
at a loss to understand their real purpose, who read the 
speeches made, and the resolutions passed, and the com- 
ments of the press, advocating these assemblages. The 
destruction of Southern commerce, and the depression of 
the pecuniary interests of the South, growing out of the 
monopolizing extortions of the North, constituted the 
leading idea in their proceedings. The evident design 



230 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

was to indoctrinate the public mind of the South with 
feelings of dislike to the Union, and to prepare it for a 
separation from the North. Still the leaders did not dare 
to openly avow their purposes; and the people, seeing 
that no practical good resulted from these " Commercial 
Conventions," they died out. 

Soon after the failure of the nullification project, Mr. 
Calhoun made that celebrated remark, " that the tariff 
having failed to unite the South, the question of slavery 
was the only one left by which the entire South could be 
united." That was the secret of the great unanimity 
which prevailed in South Carolina. It was the only State 
in the Union where no party divisions existed. All party 
organizations were merged in the paramount organization 
against the Union. The orators and presses of South 
Carolina, seconded by those in other States who affiliated 
with them, commenced their concerted plan of slavery 
agitation, and holding forth " secession " as the great sov- 
ereign remedy for the grievances under which the South 
labored. This slavery agitation went on, increasing in 
intensity year after year. In 1856 Fremont obtained a 
very large vote for the Presidency, Buchanan having re- 
ceived so small a majority over him as to warrant the be- 
lief that if the canvass had lasted a month longer, he 
(Fremont) would have been elected. The secessionists 
then thought their time had come. They made their 
preparations accordingly for carrying out their long-cher- 
ished project of dissolving the Union. They held a con- 
vention in [Nashville, Tennessee, which enunciated the 
strongest disunion sentiments. But the disunionists were 
divided as to the manner of proceeding. Some were in 
favor of immediate independent State action ; others were 
known as " cooperationists," being those who were in favor 
of all the Southern States (or the " Cotton States " at least) 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 221 

going out together. But public opinion in the cotton 
States even was not jet prepared for disunion, either by 
" cooperation " or by separate State action. As for the lat- 
ter, South Carolina declared against it in a special election 
of members of a convention, ordered with a view to consider 
of the propriety of secession. South Carolina and her co- 
workers in the other States having failed to "precipitate the 
cotton States into revolution," there was a lull for a while. 
Mr. Buchanan was President. The secessionists bent all 
their efforts toward securing the selection of a cabinet favor- 
able to their views, and of enlisting the Administration in 
the support of a series of measures favorable to the further- 
ance of their projects. They saw how the Northern mind 
had been maddened and provoked in the heavy vote cast 
for Fremont, and the sudden rise and great strength of the 
" Republican " party, in consequence of the slavery prop- 
agandist policy of the secessionists and disunionists. The 
great object was to obtain a pretext for disunion — to get 
an excuse for doing what was predetermined on. They 
saw that their principal difficulty lay in the streugth and 
moral power of the Democratic party. They saw that 
the Democratic party was the only organization of a na- 
tional character which had been strong enough to resist 
the disruptive force of slavery agitation. They had ar- 
ranged for having the nominating convention of that party, 
to be held in 1860, to meet in Charleston, South Carolina, 
an inconvenient point, that as much outside pressure as 
possible might be brought to bear upon it. 

It met there accordingly, under ominous signs and out- 
givings of dissension and failure. The secession presses 
and politicians had anticipated its action with predic- 
tions of discord, and threats as to the result, unless they 
could obtain such guaranties for slavery as they required. 
They saw plainly that Douglas was the only candidate 



232 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

spoken of who could unite a majority in favor of his nom- 
ination. True, Douglas was objectionable to the con- 
servative Union men of the Democratic party, because of 
his agency in repealing the Missouri Compromise ; but yet, 
from a desire for peace and harmony and the safety of the 
Union, they were willing to compromise on him. His 
connection with the Missouri Compromise repeal was no 
objection with the secessionists. In fact, he had supported 
that measure with a view of conciliating them. But 
yet they would not sustain his nomination, because they 
knew that, if nominated, his election would follow, and 
thus the pretext for disunion would be lost to them. 
After a protracted session of wrangling and squabbling — 
the breach widening every day — the convention adjourned, 
to meet at a future day in Baltimore. On meeting at the 
latter place, the final rupture of the Democratic party 
was consummated. Those who recollect the events and 
tone of feeling of that day, well remember the strange and 
anomalous state of things that then prevailed. The seces- 
sion presses were jubilant with joy. They predicted the 
defeat of the Democratic party ; they predicted the elec- 
tion of the " Republican " candidate. They expressed 
their delight at the conviction that the South would thus 
be united, and that it would never submit to the election 
of a sectional candidate, forced on them by sectional votes 
and influences. On the other hand, the true friends of 
the Union were filleti with sadness and dismay ; strange 
to say, those of them belonging to the old Whig party 
were pained and distressed at the disruption of the Demo- 
cratic party. Much as they had differed with that party 
on questions of governmental policy, they yet believed as 
long as the integrity of that party was preserved that the 
Union was safe. The result of the election is well known. 
Mr. Lincoln was elected by the electoral college, though 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOIESTSON. 233 

by a minority of 200,000 votes in the Northern States, his 
popular vote being that much less than the combined vote 
of Douglas and Bell and Breckinridge. And taking the 
entire vote of the whole Union, including the Southern 
States, Mr. Lincoln was in a minority of nearly a million 
of votes. The disunionists, therefore, could not complain 
that the people of the country, not even of the North, 
had, in the election of Mr. Lincoln, shown any fixed pur- 
pose of interfering with their constitutional rights of prop- 
erty in the institution of slavery. In looking at the 
political complexion of the two houses of Congress, it was 
evident the South had nothing to fear of any encroach- 
ments on their rights. Taking in the estimate the entire 
Southern members, the Republican party was in a minority 
in the House of Representatives, leaving the election of 
Speaker and the appointment of the committees under 
the control of the Opposition. In the Senate, by the same 
estimate, Mr. Lincoln was in a minority of six votes, thus 
leaving the confirmation of all executive appointments, the 
ratification of treaties, and the control of legislation, in 
the hands of the Opposition. The same was the case with 
the Judiciary. The Dred Scott decision had shown the 
temper and feeling of the Supreme Court, clearly indicat- 
ing that that tribunal was ultra Southern in its views, and 
stood ready to arrest the execution of any law that might 
involve an interference with the constitutional rights or privi- 
leges of the Southern people. Mr. Lincoln himself, in divers 
declarations before his election, and in his inaugural speech, 
declared his fixed purpose not to encroach upon the rights 
of the South, but to observe strict justice and a spirit of 
conciliation toward all sections alike. He had been fully 
committed for years against any interference by the Gen- 
eral Government with slavery in the States where it ex- 
isted. Every department of the Government was virtually 



234: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

pledged against any disturbance of slavery in the States. 
In all the Territories, the status of slavery had been fixed, 
by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, leaving it to the people to 
decide the question of slavery for themselves, on making 
their constitutions, preparatory to their admission into the 
Union as States ; so that slavery never was better protected, 
and all points of interference with it better guarded against, 
than at the time of Mr. Lincoln's election. 

But with the secessionists and disunionists all this 
availed nothing, as " Mordecai sat at the king's gate." Mr. 
Lincoln was elected President. His election had been in 
great measure procured by the very men who now urged 
it as a pretext for destroying the Union. And yet how 
was the news of his election received at the South % One 
would have supposed that those who regarded his election 
as a great misfortune to the Southern people, as foreboding 
calamity and usurpation of unwarranted power, would 
have received the news with sorrow and sadness. Such 
was not the case with the organized disunionists. In 
Charleston, South Carolina, and at other points which had 
been for years hot-beds of secession, the news of the Repub- 
lican triumph was greeted with open demonstrations of 
rejoicing. It was the consummation of a purpose for which 
they had schemed and plotted. It precipitated the crisis 
they had been long laboring to bring about. True, there 
was a large class in the South, the great majority in fact, 
who did receive the news with misgiving and dread. That 
was the true loyal Union men. Not that they were 
alarmed at the idea of any serious encroachment on their 
rights on the part of Mr. Lincoln. They knew that he 
stood pledged against any interference with the rights of 
the Southern slave property. They knew that in Congress 
and in the Supreme Court there was a majority ready to 
interpose against any disturbance of their constitutional 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 235 

rights on that subject. But they knew further that the 
disunion and secession element in the South was thoroughly 
organized ; that it was strong and powerful, and fatally 
bent on mischief. They dreaded the consequences. JSTo 
better evidence can be afforded of the feelings and senti- 
ments of any class of men at a period of agitation and ex- 
citement, than the declarations of the representative men, 
and presses that are their organs, of such class. They gen- 
erally follow, and reflect, the views of the class they belong 
to, instead of leading them. By way of showing that it 
was the predetermined purpose of a certain class of men at 
the South to destroy the Union, without reference to any 
danger to slavery, or of any postive grievance under which 
the South labored, reference is here made to some of the 
surface-indications (to use the language of the miners) con- 
temporary with the secession ordinances of the winter of 
1860-61. Governor Gist, in his message to the Legislature 
of South Carolina in 1860, said : 

" All hope of concerted action by a Southern Convention being 
lost, there is but one course left for South Carolina to pursue, con- 
sistent with her honor, interest, and safety ; and that is, to look 
neither to the right nor the left, but go straight forward to the con- 
summation of her purpose. It is too late to receive propositions 
for a conference, and the State would be wanting in self-respect, 
after having deliberately decided on her own course, to entertain 
any proposition looking to a continuance of the present Union." 

Let it be recollected that this message was written be- 
fore Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated — before his cabinet was 
announced. Therefore he could not have then attempted 
any encroachment of which complaint could be made ; and 
he speaks of secession as the " consummation of her pur- 
pose." It is evident that no sort of concession or com- 
promise could have satisfied him ; for he says the States 



236 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

would be wanting in self-respect to entertain any proposi- 
tion looking to a continuance of the Union. 

About the same time, Mr. Keitt, in a speech in Colum- 
bia, said : 

" South Carolina, single and alone, was bound to go out of this 
accursed Union. Mr. Buchanan was pledged to secession, and 
he meant to hold him to it. Take your destinies in your own 
hands, and shatter this accursed Union. South Carolina could do 
it alone. But if she could not, she could at least throw her arms 
around the pillars of the Constitution, and involve all the States in 
a common ruin." 

The account goes on to say that Mr. Keitt was greatly 
applauded throughout his address, which proves that the 
sentiments of the audience were in accord with those of the 
speaker. Here, then, we see that at the capital of South 
Carolina, the prevailing sentiment was " rule or ruin " — 
that the determination of that people was either to force 
the other Southern States to go with them, or to drag 
them all down to one common destruction. 

In the South Carolina Convention, in December, 1860, 
Mr. Gregg said : 

" If we undertake to set forth all the causes, do we not dishonor 
the memory of the statesmen of South Carolina, now departed, 
who commenced forty years ago a war against the tariff and 
against internal improvements, saying nothing against the United 
States Bank and other measures which may now be regarded as 
obsolete ? " 

Mr. Khett said : 

" The secession of South Carolina is not an event of a day. It 
is not any thing produced by Mr. Lincoln's election, or by the 
non-execution of the fugitive slave law. It has been a matter 
which has been gathering head for thirty years." 

About the same time the Augusta (Georgia) " Chronicle 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 237 

and Sentinel," in a labored editorial, and the " Columbus 
(Georgia) Times " in a communication, took ground that not 
only the Union, but our republican system of government, 
had proven a failure ; and intimating that our only re- 
course was to a monarchy. The "Montgomery Daily 
Advertiser " said : 

" Has it been a precipitate revolution ? It has not. With 
coolness and deliberation, the subject has been thought of for forty 
years ; for ten years it has been the all-absorbing theme in political 
circles. From Maine to Mexico, all the different phases and forms 
of the question have been presented to the people, until nothing 
else was thought of, nothing else spoken of, and nothing else 
taught in many of the political schools." 

The pretence was put forward by disunionists at the 
South, that the Southern States resorted to secession be- 
cause the propositions of the " Peace Conference " and the 
Crittenden Compromise afterwards having failed to receive 
the sanction of Congress, they saw they were to be left to the 
mercy of a " Black Republican " majority. Now let us ex- 
amine into the fallacy of this pretext. South Carolina did 
not send her Senators to Congress in December, 1860, at all. 
Instead of going on to aid in defending the rights of the 
South, and in procuring a peaceful compromise of the pend- 
ing troubles, the South Carolina Senators stayed at home, 
knowing as they well did that the secession of that State was 
already determined on, and which, in fact, took place only 
two or three weeks later. So that, so far as South Carolina 
is concerned, she is estopped from urging any such excuse 
as the failure by Congress to pass any thing looking to 
the further guaranty of Southern rights. But Congress 
proceeded to act, nevertheless. A proposition passed the 
Senate by an almost unanimous vote (only three or four 
voting against it) to so amend the Constitution as to forever 
prohibit any interference by Congress with slavery in the 



238 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

States. It had previously passed the House of Representa- 
tives by the requisite two-thirds majority. Mr. Crittenden 
had offered his compromise, the passage of which would no 
doubt have arrested secession in the other States, by taking 
from them all decent pretext for disunion. It was well 
known that the moral effect upon the public mind would 
have been so great that the conspirators would have been 
unable to carry the people with them. When this compro- 
mise of Mr. Crittenden was under consideration, Mr. Clark, 
of New Hampshire, offered an amendment, calculated to em- 
barrass and in fact to destroy the force and efficacy of the 
proposition. On a vote taken a few moments before, fifty- 
five Senators had voted, showing there was that number 
present in the hall. On the vote on the Clark amendment, 
there were only 48 Senators voting — the vote standing yeas 
25, nays 23. Six Senators sat in their seats and refused to 
vote ; and thus the Crittenden Compromise was lost. Those 
refusing to vote were Messrs. Benjamin and Slidell of Louis- 
iana, Messrs. Hemphill and Wigfall of Texas, Mr. Iverson 
of Georgia, and Mr. Johnson of Arkansas. President John- 
son, then a member of the Senate, who had a seat near 
Mr. Benjamin, said to him : " Mr. Benjamin, why do you 
not vote % Why not save this proposition, and see if we 
cannot bring the country to it % " Mr. Benjamin replied 
abruptly, saying he " would control his own action without 
consulting him (Mr. Johnson) or anybody else." Mr. 
Johnson rejoined with some feeling — "Vote, and show 
yourself an honest man." Here, six Southern Senators 
refused to vote, when, they could have defeated the Clark 
amendment, and saved the Crittenden Compromise by four 
majority, if they had voted. 

At a later period, Mr. Cameron, of Pennslyvania, 
moved to reconsider the vote — the vote was reconsidered, 
and when finally the Crittenden propositions were sub- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 239 

raitted on the second day of March, the Southern States 
having nearly all seceded, and their Senators left their 
places, they were lost by only one majority — the vote 
being yeas 19, nays 20. Not only so, but after most of the 
Southern Senators had abandoned their seats in the Senate, 
Congress passed bills for the organization of three new 
Territories— Dakota, Nevada, and Colorado ; and in each 
act it was provided that these Territorial Legislatures 
should have no power to legislate so as to impair the right 
to private property, nor lay any tax discriminating against 
one description of property in favor of another. Not a 
word was said upon the subject of slavery. These three 
Territories, as thus organized, embraced every foot of 
territory the United States held on the continent. The 
Supreme Court having decided that the Constitution pro- 
tected slavery as property in the Territories, slavery as an 
institution was thus guarded and secured as strongly and 
efficiently as it could be, by the action of the General Gov- 
ernment, so far as the Territories were concerned, and its 
failure to receive the strongest constitutional guaranties in 
the States was owing to the refusal of Southern Senators 
to vote. And yet in the face of all this — strange and 
incredible as it may now appear — the secession and dis- 
union agitators raised the cry throughout the South, that 
the South having failed to obtain guaranties for the 
preservation of their rights, were forced into disunion as 
the only means left of saving them from " Black Republi- 
can " tyranny and oppression. There never was a more 
apt illustration of the fable of the wolf and the lamb. The 
disunion conspirators having resolved upon a rupture at 
all hazards, resorted to a pretence as false and unreason- 
able as that of the wolf when he charged that the lamb, 
though at a point lower down the stream, muddied the 
waters where he (the wolf) was drinking. 



24:0 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Here is proof positive, from the record, that slavery 
might not only have been saved to the South, but put 
beyond the reach of danger — peace and harmony restored 
between the two sections, and war and bloodshed averted 
— but for the recklessness and madness of Southern men. 
The responsibility for all the horrors, sufferings, and dis- 
asters that have since befallen the country, rests upon those 
men who might have prevented them and would not, and 
those who concurred with them instigated and encouraged 
them in their work of ruin. Contrast the course of 
Andrew Johnson with that of these men. After they had 
deserted the post of duty, he still held on, pleading, and 
laboring, and doing all he could to preserve peace, to secure 
the rights of the South, and to prevent a resort to arms. 
He continued to struggle for the interests of the South, 
and to save that fair and sunny land from the miseries he 
foresaw and foretold would result from an attempt to dis- 
member the Union, whilst its own chosen champions 
deserted its cause. 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 243 

edge of the facts and considerations alluded to, it is 
thought by the author to be eminently proper to offer to 
the reader some suggestions on the subject. 

It has been generally supposed — or rather, it has been 
assumed — that the slave-owners of the South were the 
main agitators of the subject of slavery ; that they have 
been the main disturbers of the peace and quiet of the 
country, so far as slavery is concerned; that they have 
mooted the question in elections, and that their influence 
on public men has instigated the latter to excitement and 
violence in regard to that institution. At the North, this 
opinion prevails almost exclusively. At the South 
but little effort has been made to remove the erroneous 
conclusion. So far as the fate of slavery as an institution 
is concerned, it makes but little difference who is to 
blame ; still, the truth of history should be vindicated. 
Let justice be done. The slave-owners have lost several 
thousand millions of dollars' worth of property. In this 
they have paid the penalty of their shortcomings ; let 
them not be blamed for that of which they are innocent. 
It is in the very nature of property, of invested capital, to 
shrink from agitation. What it wishes is peace, quiet ; — 
to avoid rather than to seek public notoriety and discus- 
sion. It may be asserted, as a fact that would stand the 
test of the most rigid scrutiny, that a very large majority 
of the slaveholders of the South have deprecated the con- 
tinued agitation of the subject of slavery. They have re- 
garded it with dread and misgiving, as likely to end 
in disaster to their interests. Paradoxical as the opinion 
may seem to some, yet it may be safely expressed, that if 
the question could have been left to the whole body of 
Southern slaveholders, neither secession, nor the agitating 
measures which culminated in secession, ever would have 
taken place. 



244 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

How, then, it may be asked, was the excitement and 
agitation about slavery kept up in the South ? The 
answer is easy. It was the politicians who did it. For 
many years past, in almost every election of any import- 
ance, the main issue between the opposing candidates was, 
who was the best Southern man ; who would most ably 
and zealously contend for the institution of slavery ; who 
hated abolition and abolitionists the hardest, and would re- 
sist them most strenuously. It might perhaps be asked, 
what interest had the great mass of the non-slave-owners 
in an issue of that sort — why wage it before them, but 
that they might be reached through the influence the 
slaveholders had over them ? Here, again, is another mis- 
take. The non-slave-owners had no sort of sympathy 
with the slave-owners, and the protection of their property 
as such. The masses not owning slaves, so far from look- 
ing on the owners of slaves with kindness and favor, 
were rather disposed to regard them with disfavor and dis- 
trust, unless they otherwise considered them as kindly and 
benevolent men, and for other reasons rather than those 
connected with slavery, as entitled to their confidence. 
The rationale of the matter is this : The masses of the 
non-slaveholding population of the South were more 
violent in their opposition to " abolition " and " abolition- 
ists " than were the slave-owners themselves. They had 
in their minds a fixed and definite meaning attached to 
the word " abolitionist." They regarded it as meaning 
one who was "in favor of setting free all the negroes 
in the country, to remain there among themselves, and to 
have all the rights and privileges of, and be on an equality 
with, the poor white men." Thus it was a question of 
caste, of social position, of personal pride, in regard to 
which, above all other things in the world, human na- 
ture is most sensitive. Consequently, for a candidate 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 245 

for popular favor in the South to be " doubted " on 
the question of slavery, was to be " damned." It was a 
very common thing to see a man owning hundreds of 
slaves charged with being unsound on the question of sla- 
very by men who did not own any at all. Moderation 
on this subject was fatal to any public man in the South. 
The slaveholder who might, from a sense of policy and of 
self-interest, wish to sink all such issues, soon found him- 
self denounced as a sympathizer with " abolition." It was 
this everlasting agitation of the negro question which de- 
moralized the hustings all over the South, and which had 
produced a pestiferous brood of demagogues that had be- 
come the very scourge of society. The parrot-cry of " un- 
soundness " on the slavery question was heard on the 
approach of every election throughout the Southern States ; 
not by those who were deeply interested in slave prop- 
erty, and against those who had afforded cause for sus- 
picion, but very frequently by those who did not care a 
rush for the negro one way or the other except so far as 
they could use him to mount to power. The charge of 
" unsoundness " on the question of slavery was like that of 
" incivism " during the French [Revolution, almost invari- 
ably resorted to as the promptest method of killing off a 
political enemy. In fact, so long had the public mind 
shuddered before this cry of "unsoundness," etc., that 
when the great issue of secession was precipitated upon 
them, many of the best Union men in the South were par- 
alyzed, as it were, by the reign of terror which prevailed. 
As to the correctness of the view here presented — that 
the politicians, and not the slaveholders, as a class, were the 
real agitators in the South — the author is sustained not 
only by his own observations of Southern society, Southern 
politics, and Southern character, but by the concurrent 
opinion of many of the most reliable and observant men 



24-6 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

in the Southern States. The author feels that it is not 
only due to the truth of history that these facts should be 
duly weighed and considered, but is due to a proper appre- 
ciation of President Johnson's course in dealing with the 
details of readjustment and reconstruction. President 
Johnson understands this matter. ~No one knows better 
than he does that many of the large slaveholders of the 
South were among the best and truest Union men to be 
found. Hence it is, that in the exercise of the pardoning 
power, he has shown no disposition to assume that, because 
the applicant was a slaveholder, therefore he was a dis- 
unionist. He has exhibited no animosity to slaveholders 
as a class. He judges of them as he does of all other 
classes of the population, and in all sections of the country, 
in the exercise of the pardoning power, in the distribution 
of official patronage, and in the bestowal of his confidence. 
He judges of all men, of the reliability of their characters, 
and of their fitness for public trust, by the uniform tenor 
of their lives, and their deportment and bearing in times 
of difficulty and danger. 

There are other considerations touching the precipita- 
tion of the war which belong to the history of the times, 
and which should not be passed over in a biographical 
memoir of President Johnson. And for this reason : JSTo 
one can judge fairly and impartially of President Johnson's 
course unless he takes into consideration the circumstances 
attending the inauguration of the conflict, and the inci- 
dents calculated to modify on the one hand, or to exag- 
gerate on the other, the conduct of those who may 
have been implicated. In regard to secession and disunion, 
and those who may have countenanced and recognized the 
authorities under the same, the population of the South 
may be divided into three classes, or rather be regarded 
under three aspects. First, there is the great majority 



LITE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 2J:7 

class, consisting of the indifferent — men whose impulses 
were in favor of the Union and the continuation of the 
old order of things, but who, not mingling in political con- 
flicts generally, and being of plastic dispositions, allowed 
themselves to drift on a current which they had no agency 
in setting in motion. These men, quietly and unsuspect- 
ingly engaged in their domestic pursuits, were engineered 
out of the Union without their knowing how or why. In 
resuming their original position in the Union, they do not 
hesitate to express their pride and pleasure in at last reach- 
ing a port of safety, after having been buffeted on the 
waves of anxiety and trouble for four years past. 

Of the balance of the Southern population, a very large 
majority, except perhaps in South Carolina, were Union 
men. They had stood firmly, and resisted the efforts 
of the organized secessionists for years. They had never 
failed at previous periods of agitation and excitement, 
when this question was made the issue, to carry the elec- 
tions in their States under the Union banner. The con- 
ventions in the first seceding States were hurriedly called 
at a time when the public mind was excited, agitated, and 
confused. The feeling was a pervading one that danger 
and trouble impended over the country — that the ship was 
amid the breakers, while the sky above was rent with 
storms — that something must be done — that a convention, 
to be composed of the wisest and best men in the State, 
should be convened. This feeling, which prevailed in 
nearly all the Southern States, was not so much a feeling 
of destructiveness as of conservatism. Those who voted 
for members of conventions did not regard it as a foregone 
conclusion that the convention was to secede. The proba- 
bility is that, in most cases, they had no definite opinion as 
to what the final result would be. They hoped for the 
preservation of the Union, and the restoration of peace 



248 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

and harmony. They were willing to trust the convention 
to do the best that was possible under the circumstances, 
supposing, no doubt, that the acts of such bodies would be 
finally submitted to the people for ratification or rejection. 
While this state of things was going on — while the elements 
of strife were commingling and assuming shajje and form — 
the eyes of the people of the respective States were turned 
alternately from their own capitals to Washington, and from 
Washington to their own capitals again. Mr. Buchanan 
was then President. The people of the South had a kind 
and friendly feeling toward him. He was regarded as being 
favorable to them and to their interests. The whole country 
looked on anxiously to see what would be his action. He 
did nothing. At that time a kind admonition, a warning, 
a firm and decided position on his part, might have arrested 
the evil and averted the war. At all events, an admonition 
or warning from him would have been listened to and con- 
sidered. A decided stand on his part, based on a declara- 
tion of intent to do his duty, would have induced the 
South to pause and consider, and probably to desist. 

But nothing could be heard from him, except croaking 
over the difficulties of his situation, and his crotchets about 
his want of power to " coerce a State." He allows one 
member of his Cabinet (Floyd) to distribute arms and mu- 
nitions throughout the South, in anticipation of a conflict. 
He allows another member of his Cabinet (Thompson) to 
go as a commissioner from Mississippi on a secession cru- 
sade to the convention of North Carolina, and then return 
and assume his Cabinet position. He allowed national 
steamers endeavoring to communicate with Fort Sumter, 
under official orders, to be twice fired on without noticing 
it. What was the effect of all this % The Government 
of the United States insulted and set at defiance, and the 
chief executive of the nation admitting he was powerless ! 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 249 

The public mind of the South being in a condition of fer- 
ment, not conducive to very sound reason or to logical de- 
duction, jumped to the conclusion that the Government 
of the Union was effete — that it had " played out " — that 
disintegration of the elements composing it had taken 
place. Although this conclusion was not a rational one, 
yet under the circumstances it is not at all strange that it 
should have been arrived at. And in this, as an historical 
event not to be lost sight of, is to be found a vast palliation 
of the course of many of the best and most consistent 
Union men in the Southern States. They deplored Buchan- 
an's criminal shortcomings ; they were startled thereat ; 
they had hoped that by firmness on his part, in meeting 
promptly the issue tendered by the disunionists, the friends 
of the Union and of peace might have interposed, and 
brought about a restoration of harmony. But when they 
saw month after month expire — when they saw State after 
State secede — when they saw armies raising, and all the 
appliances of war preparing, and no effort made, not a 
finger raised by the Government in vindication of its 
honor, their hearts sank in despair. As the question pre- 
sented itself to them, the Government of the Union had 
abdicated its powers, and, in admitting its inability to ex- 
tend protection to its friends, had thereby absolved them 
from allegiance to its authority. This conclusion, it is 
again repeated, was not a reasonable one. They should 
have recollected that James Buchanan was not the Gov- 
ernment, but only the temporary custodian of its execu- 
tive powers ; and that a refusal by him to discharge his 
duty, could not absolve his successor from his constitu- 
tional obligations. But, to repeat, it is not remarkable that 
the Union men of the South should have been affected as 
they were. They were sad, mortified, crushed at witness- 
ing, as it looked to them, the Union dying. 



250 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

In this way is to be accounted for the position occu- 
pied by many of the true Union men of the South. Let 
no one condemn them who has never had to pass through 
a similar ordeal. And it was no time for a man to stand 
still and wait for the subsiding of the storm, that he might 
then duly consider what was best to be done. So sudden 
and violent was the shock of the conflicting elements, that 
every man had to seek for safety in one position or another. 
Many of the most conscientious Union men of the South 
yielded temporarily, like the traveller before the simoom 
of the desert, to the violence of a storm they could not 
resist. Many of them, as members of State conventions, 
voted for ordinances of separation from the Union. This, 
not because they did not reverence and love the Union, 
for they had fought its battles for years. Not that they 
were secessionists, for they had resisted secession as a fal- 
lacy and a cheat. But believing, from the causes men- 
tioned, that the Union had died from mere inanition, their 
purpose was to save from the wreck all that was left, and 
to adapt their States to the condition in which circum- 
stances beyond their control had placed them. 

If Mr. Buchanan had exerted the powers of the Gov- 
ernment in opposition to disunion, and had appealed to 
the Union element of the South, he would have met a 
response of approval. He might have enlisted a Union 
feeling strong enough to have counteracted the disunion 
movement in many of the Southern States. The South 
had voted for Buchanan. The Southern people regarded 
him as having kindly feelings for them and for their inter- 
ests. An attempt on his part to execute the laws would 
have been regarded with due allowance, as involving what 
he considered a discharge of duty. Mr. Lincoln had no 
such prestige. When he came into power, and called by 
proclamation for troops to put down the rebellion, those 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 251 

whose minds had yielded to the delusion that the Union 
had died out from inability to enforce its authority, could 
not, all of a sudden, realize the fact that the call for troops 
was the act of a Government that instead of being dead, 
had only been asleep, and, being waked up, was resolved 
to vindicate its power and authority. Mr. Lincoln had 
been elected by Northern votes exclusively, without hav- 
ing received an electoral vote in the South. His call for 
troops struck the Southern people as the threat of a for- 
eign power thirsting for vengeance, rather than as the con- 
stituted authority of their own Government preparing to 
sustain the national honor and to defend the national flag. 
The author does not hereby mean to intimate that such an 
erroneous view was at all justifiable. But he thinks the 
truth of history should be vindicated, and that those who 
were true Union men at heart should have all due charity 
and forbearance extended to them, on account of the be- 
wilderment of mind they labored under at the time. Ul- 
timately the issue of battle was joined between the two 
sections. Blood began to flow in torrents. The Union 
men in the South looked on aghast, panic-stricken, and 
powerless. The original secessionists and conspirators had 
been working unremittingly and in earnest. They had 
perfected their organization and inaugurated a reign of 
terror. The Union men saw, when it was too late, that 
they were no longer " masters of the situation." They 
saw that they had allowed the favorable moment for ef- 
fecting a counter-revolution to escape. They saw that 
any movement or declaration in favor of peace and resto- 
ration, was at the risk of personal injury, even the hazard 
of life itself. No other recourse was left them but to 
watch and wait, and bide their time. 

The people of the North, those who were distant from 
the theatre of operations, cannot understand or appreciate 



252 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

the difficulties and trials which beset the Union men of 
the South. At the North it cost nothing to be a friend of 
the Union. All the impulses of personal safety and per- 
sonal interest, as well as of patriotic duty, induced the 
people of that section to support the Government and the 
Union. In the South it required the highest effort of 
moral courage for a Union man to simply keep quiet, pur- 
sue his private and domestic occupations, and abstain from 
all participation in public and political affairs. It is no 
answer to this to say that if the Union element so greatly 
preponderated, as assumed by the author, then why did 
not the Union men organize, and by concert of action get 
up a counter-revolution, and sweep the disunionists from 
power % The causes of that moral paralysis that rendered 
them powerless at first, have been explained. Afterwards, 
when they waked up to a sense of their real condition, it 
was too late. Every reader of history knows how difficult 
it has always been to expel despotism from power, when 
once installed under the forms of law, and in possession 
of the insignia of authority ; more especially where terror 
is the agent by which public action is controlled. When 
Nero fiddled over the burning of Rome, which he had set 
on fire, there were probably not ten men in the empire 
who did not wish him dead; yet no one was ready to 
strike the blow. When Robespierre was sending victims 
to the scaffold by hundreds every day, and drenching the 
streets of Paris in blood, ninety-nine hundredths of the 
people of France would willingly have plunged a dagger 
in his heart ; yet he continued his work of slaughter until 
those who had been his compeers in villany sickened at 
his merciless butchery. There are two reasons for this, 
depending on the sameness of human nature in all times 
and in all countries : one is, that the public mind may be 
so shocked and astounded as to become paralyzed and im- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 253 

potent for every efficient action, and thus manhood is un- 
nerved, as it were, for the time being ; another is, that 
whilst every man may be ready to strike, yet he is afraid 
to whisper it to his neighbor. ISTo man better understood 
this seeming inconsistency in man's nature than that great 
master of the human heart, Shakspeare. Observe with 
what delicate caution he makes Brutus and Cassins ap- 
proach each other, in the celebrated dialogue between 
them. Although bosom friends, yet how warily and in- 
geniously each tries to worm out of the other his opinions 
and feelings in regard to the mighty events then in prog- 
ress of development ! It is possible, and even probable, 
that but for some incidental conversation between the two 
chief conspirators, such as that hypothecated by the great 
dramatist, Csesar might have lived and died in the pos- 
session of absolute power, as the master of his country. 

No man in the country understands all this better — 
perhaps no one understands it as well — than President 
Johnson. He knows what it cost to a Union man to stand 
up firmly to his principles and his duty, even in Tennes- 
see, where he, by his commanding influence, through the 
great confidence reposed in him, was enabled to rally and 
organize the Union element for efficient action. He knows 
the tenor of that ban of public opinion — factious though 
it was — to which Union men were subjected. He knows 
how, sick and sad at heart, they sought privacy and ob- 
scurity in the retirement of private life, and even there 
were not allowed to find it. He knows how their hearts 
were wrung with anguish when they saw the sons of Rev- 
olutionary sires imbruing their hands in each other's blood, 
and hecatombs of victims daily sacrificed to the Moloch 
of civil strife. He knows how, like the sturdy old Ro- 
mans in the days of their country's ruin, they wept over 
the degeneracy of the times. His acquaintance with all 



254 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

the facts, his own personal experience, enabled him to do 
justice to these men. Is it to be expected — can the most 
embittered Northern man expect — that Mr. Johnson 
should place in the same category all the people of the 
South, without regard to their position in the crisis spoken 
of? Is it to be expected that he should indulge a feeling 
of prejudice against the entire South, as a section, because 
wicked men in the South there planned and perpetrated 
their deeds of mischief? Such prejudice, such injustice, 
are equally inconsistent with his character for fair dealing 
and strict justice, and with the duties of his high and no- 
ble mission. 

As to the original secessionists, who plotted and planned 
disunion ; who had been for years intriguing to bring it 
about; who aided in, or rejoiced at, the disruption of the 
Charleston Convention in 1860 ; who rejoiced at the elec- 
tion of Mr. Lincoln, as affording a pretext for the consum- 
mation of their nefarious designs ; who wished to throw 
obstructions in the way of the "Peace Congress," that met 
in "Washington in March, 1861, and who rejoiced at its 
failure to avert a collision; who hearkened on the dogs of 
war toward the shedding of blood ; who were in favor of 
precipitating the conflict by firing on Fort Sumter ; who, 
to the last, would not tolerate the idea of peace, except 
on terms to be dictated, as a condition precedent, by the 
South ; who denounced, as a traitor or an imbecile, every 
one who expressed a wish to see terminated this carnival 
of blood — language contains no terms of reproach too 
odious to apply to them. The history of the human race 
scarcely presents a parallel to such madness, such infatua- 
tion, such crime. If they were to pass a thousand years 
of the most virtuous and repentant lives, they could not 
atone for the evil and mischief they have done. For these 
men President Johnson has but little sympathy. He 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 255 

knows how much trouble they have occasioned him — how 
much trouble they have brought on the country. The 
most ultra Northern man may not distrust him in this re- 
gard. If lie studiously withholds from them his personal 
confidence and official patronage, it will not be for the 
purpose of gratifying his personal prejudice, but because 
he knows the public interests will not be safe in their 
hands. 

There is one point of view in which the public mind of 
the South, to a considerable extent, labors under a delusion 
— a delusion from which reflection ought easily to awaken 
it. Many men who arrive hastily at conclusions, or reason- 
ing from the mere surface of things, assume that the pres- 
ent troubles and difficulties of the Southern people have 
originated in their being conquered and reduced to obedi- 
ence by the United States Government — or by the North, 
as it seems to strike them — and the occupation of their ter- 
ritory by military force. As President Johnson has no 
wish to inflict unnecessary pain or annoyance on the peo- 
ple of the South, as harshness and cruelty form no part of 
his character, justice and truth require that the facts 
should be presented in their true light. Again, many men 
in the South who are conscientious, who deprecated 
the war, and who are anxious to see law and order re- 
established, and the old order of things restored, feel that 
the terms imposed in the proclamation and in the reor- 
ganization of the State governments, are the cause of the 
present disordered and deranged condition of affairs, the 
prostration of business, etc. This is a great mistake. It 
is not the way in which the war was terminated, nor is it 
the terms and conditions on which the relations between 
the States and the General Government are to be restored, 
that have ruined and impoverished the South. It was the 
four years of war that did it. The great resources of the 



256 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

wealth of the South consisted in her annual production of 
three hundred millions of dollars' worth of cotton, tobacco, 
rice, sugar, naval stores, etc., which were exported to the 
markets of the world. For the last four years these 
resources have been cut off, and her energies have been di- 
rected toward raising a supply of provisions for the 
armies. Here, then, twelve hundred millions of dollars of 
productive wealth, instead of contributing to her prosperi- 
ty, comfort, and improvement, have been lost forever. 
This was clone by the war which the South commenced. 
Thousands and hundreds of thousands of her laborers, 
instead of contributing to her national wealth, went 
to the armies, and instead of being producers they have 
been consumers. The war did this. Owing to the facti- 
tious demands for specie by blockade-runners, refugees 
from the country, etc., the high price paid for it caused it 
all to leave the country. There are hardly any of the 
banks in the South able to redeem their circulation, their 
assets consisting of millions of worthless " Confederate " 
paper. And thus the currency of the South is destroyed. 
This was the effect of the war, and not of the terms of 
peace. "What has suspended the operations of the colleges 
and academies of the South, thus arresting the education 
of the young ? It was the war that did it. Where is the 
commercial name of the South ? It has all disappeared in 
the casualties of war — not a tug-boat was left. What re- 
duced all the railroads of the South to such a state of di- 
lapidation? It was the war that has filled the South with 
sadness and sorrow, and covered the land with the drapery 
of mourning? Why is it that throughout that once smil- 
ing and happy region thousands of " Rachels are weeping 
for their children, and refusing to be comforted because 
they are not " ? What has deprived the South of its intel- 
lectual and social wealth, in hurrying to their graves her 
young men, who were the hope and promise of the succeed- 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 257 

ing generation ? It was the war that wrought these 
calamities to the country, and not the hard terms imposed 
by the conquering power. 

Even in regard to slavery, although the final status of 
that institution was not definitely decided till the war was 
at an end, yet the Southern people well knew when they 
began the war that the existence or non-existence of slavery 
was involved in the issue. They proclaimed and affected 
to believe — and urged that as a reason for secession — that 
it was the fixed and determined purpose of the North to 
destroy slavery in the South. If they were in earnest, if 
honest in their professed belief, that even without war the 
North was bent on abolition throughout the South, then 
of course they could expect no other result if they failed 
in the struggle. Mr. Lincoln, in his proclamation of 1862, 
tendered to the South the issue of either the restoration of 
the Union before the first of January, 1863, or a definitive 
abolition of slavery on that day if they persisted in their 
course. The South did persist ; the definitive abolition of 
slavery was proclaimed on that day, and from that time to 
the end of the war the South understood that slavery was 
to live or die as one side or the other prevailed in the 
contest. So that the immense loss of slave property by the 
Southern people, as well as their other disasters, may be 
attributed to the war, and not to the terms of peace and 
the conditions of reorganization. The South was ruined 
before General Lee surrendered. The present moral incu- 
bus that now depresses their feelings and energies, the 
stagnation of all kinds of business arising from the want of 
a currency — that leaves no field for enterprise and indus- 
try — the poverty incident to a transition state, in the sub- 
stitution of one system of labor for another — all these are 
the consequences of a bloody civil war commenced by the 
South, and pertinaciously continued till her resources were 
exhausted. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

Object of President Johnson in the continued Occupation of the South by na- 
tional Troops — Decision of the President that the Acts of States in Seces- 
sion are null and void — His Views — The Appointment of Provisional 
Governors — The Exercise of the Pardoning Power — The Public Law of 
Christendom — His Pardons no mere Capricious Exercise of Power — Dif- 
culties of his Position — The Problem of the Future. 

The people of the Southern States evidently feel ag- 
grieved and deeply wounded at the continued occupation 
of their territory by the national troops. A little reflec- 
tion ought to convince them that their feelings on this score 
are unreasonable. If they suppose that this is done for the 
purpose of mortifying and depressing them, by keeping the- 
evidences of their subjugation constantly before their eyes, 
they judge President Johnson unfairly. He has no such 
cruelty in his disposition. His object is to benefit the 
South rather than to injure it. Let Southern men reflect 
for a moment. Is it to be supposed that after a four years' 
bloody war, waged by the South with a desperation almost 
unparalleled, that the ferment and excitement should sud- 
denly cease altogether, and that perfect order, quiet, and de- 
corum should as suddenly take their place % Such is not our 
experience with the subsidence of storms, whether physical 
or moral. Is it not much more reasonable to suppose that 
for a while at least there should be local disturbances and 
spasmodic cases of violence and disorder % Is it not for the 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 259 

interest of the Southern people themselves that a sufficient 
military force should be kept among them to protect them 
from the lawlessness and violence of their own disorderly 
population, whether of one color or the other ? It is true, 
that quiet and order do prevail in the South, to an extent 
almost incredible, considering the nature of the contest 
just terminated. But this is contrary to, and not in ac- 
cordance with, what might have been reasonably expected. 
President Johnson will keep garrisons in the South no 
longer than he may consider the interests of the country — 
and the interests of the South, too — -may require it. On 
the score of economy alone, it is desirable to dispense 
with them as soon as possible. Let not the Southern peo- 
ple think hard of Mr. Johnson for the discharge of an un- 
pleasant duty imposed on him by the inevitable force 
of circumstances beyond his control. The discharge 
of this duty on his part originated from no capricious pur- 
pose to exercise tyrannical powers. It proceeded from the 
consequences of the war itself. In the performance of this 
duty he will abstain from every thing in his power that is 
calculated to wound the sensitiveness of the Southern peo- 
ple. He will observe every delicacy toward them com- 
patible with the high behests of duty. 

That portion of President Johnson's public conduct 
which has given rise to most agitation and discussion, and 
which has perhaps caused more dissatisfaction than any 
other, is his decision that the public acts and doings under 
the semblance of State authority, since such State passed 
an ordinance of secession, are null and void. It cannot be 
denied that many fair-minded, conservative, loyal friends of 
the Union regard this decision of Mr. Johnson as harsh and 
unnecessary, as destructive of every vestige of the rights of 
the States, and as setting a precedent whicli may be destruc- 
tive of civil liberty. A calm and deliberate examination of 



260 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

this question is all that is necessary to convince the public 
mind that, in this course, President Johnson has been ac- 
tuated by a sincere wish to save public liberty and repub- 
lican institutions, instead of destroying or impairing them. 
Mr. Johnson, in coming to the conclusion he did on 
this question, found himself surrounded with difficulties of 
no ordinary magnitude. The social and political elements 
were in a state of discord and confusion. The old land- 
marks were broken down. To proceed along the beaten 
track of " the king's highway " was impossible. Mr. 
Johnson had already decided the preliminary question that 
the insurgent States had never been out of the Union. 
Still he could not ignore the fact that the normal relations 
between the General Government and the States had be- 
come deranged and complicated. The question was, How 
were the States to be accommodated to their original 
status in the Union — how were their disturbed relations to 
the General Government to be readjusted, so as to give 
the least possible shock to our republican institutions? 
President Johnson had no precedent to guide him. The 
restoration, or rather the reconstruction, of the Union was 
the polar star by whose guidance he was directed. That 
was the goal to which his course was aimed. The work 
had to be done. The responsibility had to be met. He 
knew and he felt that " where there is a will there is a 
way." He did not flinch from the task before him. Rely- 
ing on his consciousness of a sense of duty, and on the 
honesty and justice of his countrymen, and poised and 
sustained by that energy and self-dependence which are the 
leading traits of his character, he met the question boldly 
and manfully. With a rigid adherence to the spirit of the 
Constitution, and reasoning from the principles of analogy, 
he resolved to work out the problem in such a way as to 
subserve the two great paramount objects of guaranteeing 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 261 

to each State a republican form of government, and of se- 
curing to the people all their rights and privileges as recog- 
nized by the Constitution. 

The view Mr. Johnson took was this : that the great 
mass of the people composing the body politic in a State 
had never been out of the Union ; that they had never been 
absolved from their allegiance to it, nor had they deprived 
themselves of its protection, except so far as individuals 
may have forfeited it by their own conduct ; that the Fed- 
eral Constitution was " the supreme law of the land " 
within the States, so regarded and recognized by them ; 
that the State governments cannot legally exist, as such, 
except under the Constitution of the United States as the 
supreme law ; that any action by those professing to be the 
constituted organs of such State, if in disregard, or under 
repudiation, of such supreme law, was thereby vitiated, and 
deprived of validity. What the States did, under and in 
pursuance of their ordinances of secession, they did in 
their professed characters as foreign powers — foreign so far 
as the United States and its Constitution are concerned. 
To admit the legality of their acts while the war was 
pending, would be to admit that they were out of the 
Union, because these very acts were based on the consid- 
eration that they were members of another'and a hostile 
confederation. Once assume the position that the seceding 
States were still in the Union, and it necessarily results, as 
a corollary to that conclusion, that any action of theirs, 
based on an assumption that they were out of the Union, 
must be null and void. The integrity and preservation of 
the State governments against insurrection and invasion 
are guaranteed by the Federal Constitution. This includes 
the protection of their functionaries in the discharge of 
their duties and the execution of their laws relating to 
their own internal and domestic regulations. Now, would 



262 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

it not involve an absurdity to suppose that the General 
Government might be called on, and that if called on, it 
would be bound to interpose in enforcing obedience to the 
official action of a State Governor, elected as Governor of a 
State that was a member of a foreign and hostile govern- 
ment ? The same absurdity would be involved in the 
General Government being called on to enforce obedience 
to a State law, where such law was passed by those who 
were arrayed in hostility to the General Government, and 
intended to subserve the interests of a community foreign 
and hostile in its relations. How can those who affect to 
speak in the name and by the authority of a State govern- 
ment, claim the protection or recognition of the Federal 
Government, when they were elected to the places which 
they profess to fill, as owing no allegiance to the said Fed- 
eral Government ? How can laws passed by a State affect- 
ing to be out of the Union, ask for recognition by the 
Union I 

This argument applies to all questions involving politi- 
cal relations and political consequences. It is no answer 
to it to say that, if carried out to its logical consequences, 
it would unhinge and disarrange all the relations of life by 
invalidating all official acts involving mere administrative 
functions in the details of internal police. ISTot at all. The 
laws in force in every State, at and before the date of its 
secession ordinance, make ample provision for all mere pri- 
vate rights. And the law, in its many judicial decisions, 
provides for all such cases, and protects all such rights 
against injury. 

Assuming that the insurgent States have never been 
out of the Union, and following the necessary inference 
therefrom, that while in a state of insurrection all political 
actions of those claiming to be the organs of such States 
were null and void, the next question which arises is, How 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOIINSON. 2G3 

are the States to be gotten into a position where they can 
conform to their original relations and exercise and enjoy 
all their original rights and privileges as members of the 
Union ? The object to be attained is plain enough. The 
manner to be observed is plain enough. But the agents to 
put the machinery in operation are wanting. "Who is to 
give the impetus, who is to exert the motive power, in 
commencing the work ? The call for an assemblage of the 
Legislature by one calling himself Governor, who was 
elected as Governor of a State foreign to the Union, would 
be a mere hrutum fulmen. The call of a convention by 
such Legislature, when assembled, would be equally inop- 
erative. And yet there is the Constitution of the United 
States declaring that to each State shall be " guaranteed a 
republican form of government," and also declaring it the 
duty of the President to see that " the laws are faithfully 
executed." President Johnson takes a cool and calm 
survey of the field of operations. He discovers the diffi- 
culties of the situation. He sees there is work to he done, 
and instead of shirking it, he marches up boldly and con- 
fronts it. Jackson-like, he "takes the responsibility." 

This the author considers to be the explanation of Pres- 
ident Johnson's course in the premises. He appoints 
"Provisional Governors " for the States that he regards as 
having no legal Governors. Here the first and greatest 
difficulty is removed. From the same law of necessity, the 
Provisional Governors are instructed to appoint subordi- 
nate State officers, and thus was put in operation the 
machinery necessary for the reorganization of the State 
governments and the readjustment of the Union. The 
system has thus far worked smoothly, harmoniously,. and 
successfully. The people have adapted themselves to it 
with great readiness and facility. The election of mem- 
bers of Congress, and the admission of those members to 



264 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

their seats, will consummate the work. Thus far, the 
result has proven Mr. Johnson's wisdom and sagacity. 
Having risked any odium that might have attached to a 
failure of his system, he will be entitled to, as he will 
surely receive, the thanks and the plaudits of the country, 
North and South, and East and "West, for having so soon and 
so efficiently calmed the strife of sections, and healed the 
wounds, to a very considerable extent, caused by an un- 
natural and unfortunate conflict. 

There is one subject on which the public mind to some 
extent is greatly in error, and on which truth and justice 
require it should be put right. The error consists in this, 
that the exercise of the pardoning power, under the terms 
of the amnesty proclamation, is not only a tyrannical pro- 
ceeding, merely for the gratification of private malice and 
personal vanity, but that it is a usurpation of unconstitu- 
tional power. It is surprising that many intelligent and 
thoughtful men should have fallen into this error, who 
regard the conditions of pardon as a degradation to which 
they are compelled to submit under duress, as it were. Let 
us examine this question. The Constitution of the United 
States declares, in the the third section of the fourth article : 

" Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy- 
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort." 

Consequently, any one who may have " given aid and 
comfort " to the " Confederate " government, or any of its 
authorities, or to the military forces of the same, have sub- 
jected themselves to the charge of treason, and to a liabil- 
ity to the penalties thereon imposed. The laws of war, as 
they originally existed, have been so softened by the prog- 
ress of Christian civilization, that in this age the whole- 
sale punishment of entire communities for the crime of 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 265 

rebellion is no longer known. Therefore, in the event of 
an unsuccessful rebellion, a general amnesty is usually 
granted to the great mass of the people who may have 
been implicated, reserving from its operation such cases 
as the sovereign power may select in its discretion. As 
to the right and the policy on the part of the sovereign 
power of reserving the prominent and leading men in such 
rebellion for trial and punishment, on conviction, the laws 
of civilized nations still recognize their existence. 

The public law of Christendom on this subject is laid 
down by Yattel in great detail. This standard authority 
in the " laws of nations " says : 

" When the evil " of popular commotion " spreads — when it 
infects the majority of the inhabitants of a city or province, and 
gains such strength that even the sovereign himself is no longer 
obeyed — it is usual more particularly to distinguish such a dis- 
order by the name of insurrection" **•*«« But what con- 
duct shall the sovereign observe towards the insurgents? I 
answer, in general, such conduct as shall at the same time be most 
consonant to justice and the most salutary to the State." * * * 
" Subjects who rise against their prince without cause, deserve 
severe punishment. Yet even in this case, on account of the 
number of the delinquents, clemency becomes a duty in the sov- 
ereign. Shall he depopulate a city or desolate a province in order 
to punish her rebellion ? Any punishment, however just in itself, 
which embraces too great a number of persons, becomes an act of 
downright cruelty." * * * " When a party is formed in a 
State, who no longer obey the sovereign, and are possessed of 
sufficient strength to oppose him — or when, in a republic, the 
nation is divided into two opposite factions, and both sides take 
up arms, this is called a civil war." * * * " The sovereign 
never fails to bestow the appellation of rebels on all such of his 
subjects as openly resist him ; but when the latter have acquired 
sufficient strength to give him effectual opposition, and to oblige 
him to carry on the war against them according to the established 
12 



266 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

rules, lie must necessarily submit to the use of the term " civil 
war." * •* * "Those two parties" to a civil war "therefore 
must necessarily be considered as thenceforward constituting, at 
least for a time, two separate bodies, two distinct societies. 
Though one of the parties may have been to blame in breaking 
the unity of the State, and resisting lawful authority, they are not 
the less divided in fact." * * * " This being the case, it is 
very evident that the common laws of war — those maxims of 
humanity, moderation, and honor, which we have already detailed 
in the course of this work — ought to be observed by both parties 
in every civil war." * * * " When the sovereign has sub- 
dued the opposite party, and reduced them to submit and sue for 
peace, he may except from the amnesty the authors of the dis- 
turbance — the heads of the party ; he may bring them to a legal 
trial, and punish them if they be found guilty. He may act in 
this manner particularly on occasion of those disturbances in which 
the interests of the people are not so much the object in view as 
the private aims of some powerful individual, and which rather 
deserve the appellation of revolt than of civil war." 

President Johnson is acting on this well-recognized 
principle of public law, and no one can charge him with 
any exhibition of harshness or cruelty in its exercise. He 
issues his proclamation of general amnesty to the great 
mass of the people of the Southern States, including nine- 
ty-nine hundredths of them, upon the simple condition of 
their taking an oath of allegiance to the United States. 
Upon a compliance with this condition, they are ipso facto 
remanded to all their privileges and rights of citizenship, 
and exempted from the penalties of treason, confiscation, 
etc. Can any reasonably object to this condition of "par- 
don" if it is his purpose to demean himself as a peaceable 
and loyal citizen of the Union for the future ? If he does 
not so intend, then ought he to expect to have the rights 
and privileges pertaining to such citizenship ? It is true, 
President Johnson has excepted thirteen classes of persons 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. ■ 267 

from the benefit of the amnesty, even on the compliance 
with the condition of the proposed oath. This does not 
apply to more than one-hundredth part of the male pop- 
ulation, and it is in accordance with the usage of other gov- 
ernments that have had formidable rebellions to contend 
with. But on what ground can these last complain of any 
special grievance? Their exception from the provisions 
of the general amnesty is the penalty they have to pay for 
their prominence and influence. They are in no worse 
condition than they would be if no such proclamation had 
ever been issued. They seem to think that it is the Presi- 
dent's proclamation that subjects them to the charge and 
penalty of treason. Not at all. It is the Constitution of 
the United States that does that. Suppose they fail to 
avail themselves of the condition proposed, and refuse to 
ask for special pardon? They are just where they were. 
The proclamation and the terms offered therein make 
their case no worse. 

The tender of pardon by President Johnson, on certain 
conditions, is no mere capricious exercise of power on his 
part. It is an act of clemency offered to all ; it is an in- 
vitation, on his part, to all to return to the great brother- 
hood of citizenship, and to aid in restoring themselves and 
their States to their original position in the Union. Some 
object to the term " pardon " as grating to the feelings of 
a proud and sensitive people, as implying the forgiveness 
by a master of a recreant slave. They forget that Mr. 
Johnson does not do this as a mere personal exercise of 
power, not through any assumed or implied prerogative 
of executive authority. It is as the organ of the Govern- 
ment that he does it, under express constitutional provision. 
The term " pardon," which he uses in his proclamation, is 
not a word arbitrarily selected by himself, but it is the 
technical language of the Constitution itself. The second 



268 * LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

section of the second article of the Constitution declares 
that the President, among his other powers mentioned, 
" shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of im- 
peachment." 

If Mr. Johnson wished to gratify his mere personal 
vanity in the exercise of power, he would prefer to wait till 
after trial and conviction in each separate case, that he 
might pardon or punish in accordance with his likes or his 
dislikes ; but from sheer clemency, and for the sake of con- 
venience and comfort to those implicated, he is willing to 
shield them not only from punishment but from trial, in case 
they afford evidence of loyalty for the future. As to his 
power in this regard, there is no doubt on that score. The 
Supreme Court of the United States has decided that the 
President may pardon as well before trial and conviction 
as afterwards, and that he may also grant a conditional 
pardon. (See 7 Peters' Eep. 161 ; 5 Howard's Eep. 368 ; 
and 18 Howard 307.) 

In regard to this question, as to most others in which 
President Johnson's views have been discussed, he occu- 
pies the same position of moderation. Ultra and incon- 
siderate men at the South complain of his harshness and 
severity. The same class of men at the JSTorth blame him 
for his leniency and forbearance to " rebels." His course 
is a difficult one. It is between Scylla and Charybdis. 
But while he is at the helm, the country has confidence that 
the ship of State will make the perilous passage in safety. 
All he asks is that the crew and passengers will keep cool 
and calm, and that they will render the aid in their power 
at the proper time. 

It has been remarked by a very distinguished man, that 
the highest honor and praise that could be bestowed on 
Washington consisted in the fact that his life could not be 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 269 

properly written without its being, at the same time, the 
best history of the Revolutionary War. That is true — so 
intimately identified was Washington with all the great 
leading incidents of the war, and so great was the influence 
of his character in conducting it and bringing it to a suc- 
cessful termination. To a certain extent, the same may be 
said of Mr. Johnson, so far as the great conflict just ter- 
minated is concerned. Looking at the war in its political 
aspects, to those influences which turned tb e tide of the 
conflict in Tennessee, that proved fatal to the cau»o f dis- 
union, and to the historical results involved in the adjust- 
ment of the controversy, no man has played a more 
important part — no man has marked more strongly the 
impress of his character and genius on the events of the 
times, and the- direction imparted to industrial and social 
progress under the new order of things. In some respects 
the war just ended is much more important in its conse- 
quences than was the war of the Revolution. The latter 
involved political results and national relations to an extent 
perhaps that no war ever did before. By evolving a new 
set of ideas, it effected greater changes in other countries 
than it did at home. But it did not at all deflect the reg- 
ular current of civilization on this continent. The war just 
brought to an end involves a great social, industrial, and 
financial upheaval, that may affect the character of the 
civilization of the age. 

Andrew Johnson's name and status in history are indisso- 
lubly connected with the moral results of this great struggle. 
It was remarked to the author, a short time ago, by a very 
shrewd and observant man, who has a morbid fondness for 
historical reading — " Andrew Johnson," said he, " occupies 
a position more interesting, and likely to exercise on the 
public opinion of the age and on the national complica- 
tions of the times a greater influence than any man living, 



270 LITE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

not excepting the Emperor of the French. His cannot be 
an ordinary, commonplace destiny. If he has the ability 
to retain that mastership of the situation which he now 
holds, he will go down to posterity either as one of the 
greatest men that ever lived, or as one of the greatest fail- 
ures recorded in history." It was this very idea of the 
important position occupied by Mr. Johnson — important 
in its power, in its influence, and in the results to be elim- 
inated from hio policy — that first induced the author to 
attempt this biographical memoir. The author felt so 
deeply convinced of the importance of correct impressions 
being made, and correct views entertained by the public 
now, before faction, or prejudice, or personal ambition 
should have perverted the public judgment or poisoned the 
public mind in regard to Mr. Johnson's position and char- 
acter, that he has been induced to undertake what he 
regrets abler pens have not done. The object of the 
author has been truth, justice, fair play, not so much on 
Mr. Johnson's account as for the sake of the country. Mr. 
Johnson is an historical character. The labors and duties 
now devolving on him are too high, too intimately con- 
nected with the country's interests, for weal or woe, to be 
regarded as party questions, or as involving party results. 
It is as important that the public should fairly understand 
what really and truly are Mr. Johnson's position, his 
views, his purposes, his character, as that Mr. Johnson 
should be right himself in these particulars. 

The interests and sympathies of all civilized countries 
are so interlocked, through the agency of commerce, that 
any event seriously affecting the industrial wealth and re- 
sources of any very productive country, is felt throughout 
Christendom. Like a pebble dropped in the water, the 
ripple of the wave is felt to the furthest shore. The 
Southern States are a very productive country. In regard 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 271 

to the future of the South, as yet all is doubt and uncer- 
tainty. Among her wisest and calmest men opinions are 
variant and conflicting. Some are hopeful and buoyant in 
reference to the future. They think they already see the 
dawning of a brighter day. According to their view, an 
immense immigration will set in to the South of the hardy 
and enterprising laborers from the North and from Europe, 
who will improve and cultivate the lands to their highest 
capacity of production ; that capital by the million will 
rapidly seek investment in developing the immense mining 
and manufacturing resources of the Southern States; 
that our rivers and sounds will soon be whitened with the 
sails of commerce, and joy, gladness, and prosperity per- 
vade the whole land ; that the black race will from the 
force of natural laws soon disappear, and leave an unen- 
cumbered field for the energy and enterprise of the white 
race. Others, again, can see nothing in the future to 
cheer, but every thing to depress and dishearten. They 
regard the idea of immigration of laborers, and the invest- 
ment of capital in the South, as utterly Utopian, so long 
as millions of blacks, without any regularly organized sys- 
tem of employment, are prowling over the country ; that 
these blacks will not work, and, when pinched with hun- 
ger, they will in roving bands subsist by violence and plun- 
der ; that a physical conflict between the two races is in- 
evitable — that this conflict will continue till one obtains 
the mastery by the extermination of the other ; that the 
fertile fields of the South will grow up in briers, and go to 
waste and ruin ; that for years to come, the South will 
raise no surplus products, to bring money into the country, 
as the basis of a currency ; that all the population who 
are able will leave the country, and thus deprive it of 
what little wealth and energy it has left. In other 
words, that the South is so thoroughly crushed, impover- 



272 LIFE OF ANDBEW JOHNSON. 

ished, and broken-spirited, that its future is shrouded in the 
very blackness of despair. 

Probably the truth may lie between these two views ; 
but as one or the other is nearer to realization, will be the 
effect produced by the solving of the problem, upon the 
interests and destiny first of the North, and * then of the 
commercial nations of the earth. It may perhaps be said, 
the North can get along without the aid of the South any 
way. So it can, if by " getting along " is meant retaining 
its geographical position on the map, and the working and 
trading and living and dying of its population. But 
it is absurd to contend that the North is not very deeply 
interested in the welfare and prosperity of the South. The 
" report on commerce and navigation," annually issued by 
the Treasury Department, shows the importance of South- 
ern prosperity to the North. The devotion of the South- 
ern people to agriculture exclusively, not only leaves 
an open and uncontested field for the commerce and manu- 
factures of the North, but the South furnishes to the North 
the elements for sustaining its commerce, and the raw ma- 
terial for its manufactures ; and then, again, a market for 
the manufactured articles. But the importance of the 
South to the North does not stop here. Every country, no 
matter how diversified in interests or vast in extent, is in 
its commercial relations with other countries a unit. Thus 
it is that the two hundred and fifty to three hundred millions 
of annual products from the South, like the gold of Califor- 
nia, answer the purposes and wants of the North in paying 
for its importations from abroad, and preserving the " bal- 
ance of trade," as if grown in New York or New England. 
Suppose the view entertained by a portion of the 
Southern people — first alluded to— should turn out to be 
the correct one. Suppose the South relieved of the incu- 
bus caused by the presence of the black population. Sup- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 273 

pose the infusion of the enterprise and industry of an im- 
migrant white population in developing our agricultural, 
manufacturing, and mining resources. Suppose the South 
to spring forward, like an invigorated giant, in the race of 
industry and improvement. Suppose the hum of myriads 
of spindles and the click of thousands of anvils to be com- 
mingled with the roar of her waterfalls. Suppose her 
stagnant marshes drained, her gullied fields levelled over, 
the pursuits of agriculture varied so as to meet the tastes 
and habits of all, every variety of soil adapted to its own 
peculiar production, and neat and handsome cottages of 
the white laborer substituted for the squalid huts of the 
slave. Suppose her railroads taxed to their utmost ca- 
pacity in carrying off for the markets of the world her sur- 
plus products. Every additional dollar thus added to the 
wealth of the South, in a corresponding degree adds to the 
wealth, the power, and the influence of the North. The 
North has too far the start, the established routine of 
a century past too firmly fixed, for the South ever to 
become her competitor in manufacturing, commercial, or 
financial power. The wealth of the latter must be auxil- 
iary to that of the former. If the bright and hopeful view 
of the future of the South be the correct one, then the 
South will continue to pour into the lap of the North 
teeming millions of wealth. And as the North increases 
in material and pecuniary power, in proportion will be her 
moral influence on the ideas and civilization of the as;e, 
all over the world. It has been said that the thermome- 
ter of the monetary and commercial power of the globe 
hangs up in the London Exchange. If the problem pre- 
sented for solution by the late war is worked out favorably 
for the South, it will not be many years before this ther- 
mometer will be suspended in the exchange in Wall Street, 
New York. 



274: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Suppose, on the other hand, the views of those who can 
see nothing in the future of the South but clouds and 
darkness, be correct. Suppose the production of her great 
staples, cotton, tobacco, etc., at an end — not exceeding a 
few hundred thousand bags of the former, and a few thou- 
sand hogsheads of the latter, grown on their uplands by 
white labor ; with no capital to embark in manufacturing 
and mining pursuits, and no surplus products, from the sale 
of which to bring money in the country. Suppose immi- 
gration and capital from abroad to avoid the South, as here- 
tofore, because of the presence of three or four millions of 
blacks. What is to become of the millions of Northern 
capital invested in the commercial pursuits of the coast 
carrying-trade both ways, and to a very great extent in the 
carrying-trade both ways across the ocean? Where are 
the manufacturers of the North to find a market for 
their shoes, blankets, hats, and the thousands of other 
articles for which the South afforded them a market? 
To whom are the pork-dealers and the stock-raisers of the 
Northwest to sell the products of their industry ? How 
are Northern merchants to pay for their importations from 
abroad ? how prevent the " balance of trade " against them 
from keeping their country drained of gold ? If the fears 
and misgivings of those who look on the dark side of the 
picture — so far as the South is concerned — should be real- 
ized, the reaction must prove ruinous to Northern inter- 
ests. It is inevitable, just as sure as effect follows 
cause. 

In that event the North would lose its prestige among 
the nations ; and in this commercial and trafficking age the 
loss of material and monetary influence would involve the 
loss of moral influence. The war has proven the fallacy of 
the Southern dogma that " cotton is king." But to the 
extent that there ever was any semblance of truth in it, its 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 275 

crown was worn by Northern heads, its sceptre wielded by 
Northern hands. Cotton did more to promote the pros- 
perity and power of the North than of the South. If the 
dark view for the South be the correct one, whilst Great 
Britain would have her colonies all over the world to glean 
cotton from, the North would get from the South hardly 
enough to supply her own manufacturing wants. Nations 
that have occupied prominent positions in the world — es- 
pecially if they be youthful nations — cannot stand still. 
They must advance or retrograde. The influence and 
power any country may exercise is generally in proportion 
to the dread other countries feel of a conflict with them. 
This dread grows out of the commercial and monetary 
power more than their material strength, in this age. The 
loss of this commercial and monetary power by the United 
States, would not only detract from our present command- 
ing position, but it would destroy, to a great extent, 
the progress of American ideas and American civiliza- 
tion. 

The object of the author in this apparent digression 
has been to show that the North and the South are inte- 
gral portions of a great country, and that each has its own 
proper mission in developing and advancing our national 
character and national prosperity ; that they are necessa- 
ry to each other, and that either in attempting to destroy 
the other w r ould be striking itself a blow ; that if the con- 
nection of the two sections was made to preserve it, their 
cordial feeling and harmony ought not now to be pre- 
vented by the indulgence of unkind and bitter feelings ; 
that the recollection of past injuries on one side or the 
other, and the unpleasant associations connected with the 
contest, ought to be buried in one common effort to ad- 
vance the joint interests of both. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Difficulties of President Johnson's Situation— The next Presidency— Requisites 
for a successful Statesman — What constitutes a Demagogue — State Elec- 
tions—President Johnson supported by both Parties— His Nomination for 
the Vice-Presidency — His Views unchanged — Relations to the Republican 
Party — Views on Reconstruction — Disaffection — President Johnson's 
Sense of Duty— Address to the Montana Delegation— Address to Delegates 
of the Yirgiuia Legislature. 

Mr. Johnson has just fairly gotten under way, with 
the first term of his administration. He will certainly be 
President for three years to come, if he lives. He is man- 
aging these delicate and complicated questions, growing 
out of the late conflict between the two sections, and the 
changed relations of the two races, with consummate abil- 
ity and tact. He is giving satisfaction to the moderate 
and conservative men of both sections of the country. 
He continues to gain popularity, and to " win golden opin- 
ions" daily in all parts of the country. As to the future, 
as to whom the people of this country shall call on to 
stand at the helm of the ship of State in 1868, that is a 
matter which Mr. Johnson and his friends would prefer 
not to have mooted at present. They prefer to leave it to 
the developments of time. There are difficulties enough 
to encounter in the adjustment of pending troubles, with- 
out thrusting in this ill-timed subject of future elections. 
Mr. Johnson and his friends would deprecate, and would 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 277 

prefer to avoid, any discussion in regard to the election to 
the next Presidential term. They would prefer to leave 
that to the great tribunal of public opinion, which will 
decide on it at the proper time. Still it is not to be ex- 
pected that they should look with unconcern upon the 
inception of a movement designed to control the decision 
of future elections, without reference to the judgment 
which the great Public may pass upon Mr. Johnson's ad- 
ministration from 1865 to 1869. Mr. Johnson neither ex- 
pects nor desires to see any party organization, with a 
view to the continuation of himself in power. All he 
asks is to be let alone, that he may calmly and quietly 
work out the great problem now in a course of solution. 
So far as he is himself concerned, he is willing to leave his 
conduct of affairs to be passed on ~bij the people at the 
proper time. And he has too much confidence in the 
people to question the justness of their decision. 

In a free and popular Government such as ours, it re- 
quires a rare combination of virtues to make a great and 
successful statesman. In the use of the term u successful," 
is not meant the mere triumph or prosperous issue of any 
isolated project or undertaking. "What is meant is success 
in the general advancement of the country's true interests, 
and the general promotion of the public good. Strong 
intellect, sterling honesty, and enlarged patriotism are in- 
dispensable to the achievement of success, in the sense al- 
luded to, but they alone are not sufficient. No man can 
administer a government ably and successfully who does not 
fully enter into the spirit and theory of that government, 
and who does not believe in, confide in, admire and re- 
spect it. Camillas and Cincinnatus would never have been 
heard of in history, if they had lived in the time of Eero 
or Commodus. Richelieu would have been out of place 
in the cabinet of William III. of England ; Washington 



278 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

would have made but a sorry minister under the Czar of 
Eussia. Ours is a Government of the people, acting not 
directly, it is true, but still no less efficiently, through 
their chosen representatives. Toward a successful admin- 
istration of a Government like ours, it is requisite that he 
who is intrusted with the chief executive power, should 
realize and thoroughly comprehend this truth as the basis 
of our institutions. But further still, he should believe in 
his head and feel in his heart that it is the best system 
of government that could possibly be devised for our peo- 
ple and country. He should admire and respect it, as 
best designed to promote our national character and pros- 
perity ; as best calculated to secure the great blessings of 
national independence and civil liberty. If he doubts in 
this regard, he is out of place when intrusted with the 
administration of high and executive powers, or with the 
consideration of high legislative functions. 

A man may have capacity sufficient for the discharge 
of any public duties devolving upon the station which he 
occupies. If, however, he really believes that popular 
government is a fallacy — in case he is an honest and con- 
scientious man, he will shrink and retire from all active 
interference with public affairs, and from all official posi- 
tions under the Government. This we frequently see to 
be the case, and in this way we may account for some of 
the ablest and best men in the country abstaining from 
all political affairs. If a man believes that ours was never 
designed by its founders to be a Government of the people ; 
that the fathers in forming it, whilst presenting the sem- 
blance of popular government, yet so provided, through the 
machinery of representative system, that the people should 
be amused with the forms whilst the politicians should 
be possessed of the substance of power — how could such a 
man, when intrusted with official authority, be any thing 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 270 

other than an intriguer and hypocrite? On the other 
hand, suppose the case of a man who believes that ours is 
a Government of the people, designed to be such by its 
authors — a Government in which the will of the people 
should control, direct, and regulate the action of those in- 
trusted with the exercise of power (within the limits of 
the Coustitution, of course). But yet he thinks that, in 
this, the fathers made a mistake — that the great mass of 
the people have neither intelligence nor virtue sufficient, 
to judge understandingly or conscientiously on questions 
of public policy. If such a man be honest, he will not 
take any pride or pleasure in serving those who cannot 
appreciate his labors or his sacrifices, or who will not do 
him justice in his efforts to serve them. All the induce- 
ments of a laudable ambition to struggle for fame cannot 
exist with a man who feels that those from whom he may 
look for his reward, are not actuated by the high consid- 
erations of virtue that he is. Hence it is, that the man 
entertaining such views of the people — that they are 
neither sufficiently intelligent nor virtuous to control the 
action of the Government — when in public life, becomes a 
demagogue in the most odious sense of that term. Hav- 
ing no faith in their intelligence, he never tries to inform 
or explain to the people, except with a view to mislead 
and deceive. Having no faith in their honesty, he appeals 
not to the better but to the worse impulses of their na- 
tures. 

There is a very mistaken idea generally prevailing on 
this subject, viz., as to what constitutes a demagogue. 
Most persons seem to think a demagogue means one who 
really admires, respects, honors, and loves the great mass 
of the people. This is a great mistake. The real dema- 
gogue scorns and despises the people. Having no respect 
for them as rational beings, and treating them as ignorant 



280 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

brutes, he never appeals to their judgments, or to their 
reason. Having no regard for them, as being actuated 
by principle, and considering them as mere counters, with 
which ambition is to play out its game of selfishness, he 
never appeals to their conscientiousness, considering hon- 
esty to be a virtue which they do not possess. Thus it is, 
as all antiquity proves, that the demagogue, when once 
firmly seated in power, becomes the most cruel and unfeel- 
ing of tyrants. It is no answer to this to say that the fact 
of the masses being deceived and misled by demagogues 
goes to prove that they are ignorant and easily duped 
through their feelings. Not at all. Experience proves 
that men of intelligence are as apt to be deceived and im- 
posed on by the arts and schemes of the designing, as are 
ignorant men. Liability to be influenced through the 
feelings, instead of the judgment, is not confined to any 
class. It is one of the weak points in human nature, com- 
mon to all men. Let Mr. Johnson be subjected to these 
tests of requirement, in the qualities necessary to form a 
great statesman, and neither he nor his friends need fear 
the result. There is no man in the Union who has a 
stronger record on this point than he has. Examine his 
past history, read his speeches, messages, etc., and he will 
ever be found the same ardent and enthusiastic admirer 
of our popular form of Government, and free and repub- 
lican Constitution. He will be found the same earnest 
and uncompromising advocate of the rights and privileges 
of the people, with the same jealous determination to de- 
fend and support them against all and every encroach- 
ment. " Free government, and the rights of a free peo- 
ple,'* seems to have been the very key-note of his political 
life. In speaking of " the people " in this connection, no 
class of the population is meant. It is meant in the same 
sense in which the term " the people " is used in the Con- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 281 

stitution — the great body politic, in which resides the 
source of all power. 

At the State elections which took place in the fall of 
18G5 throughout the Northern and Northwestern States, the 
Republicans triumphed by increased majorities in nearly 
every State. It is very difficult to see or to understand 
the nature of the issues involved in these elections. The 
intensity and earnestness with which the struggle was 
maintained only prove how men will continue to contend 
and disagree, merely on the associations of past differences, 
long after all practical issues have disappeared. The 
Democratic party had organized under their old name, and 
under the leadership of many of their former prominent 
men. Judging from the tone of the press and the proceed- 
ings of public meetings, if there was any latent issue 
involved, it was that of more of forbearance and kindli- 
ness of feeling on the part of the Democratic party toward 
the Southern States and people — more of readiness and 
anxiety to see them restored to the Union with all their 
former rights and privileges ; and, on the other hand, more 
of distrust and misgiving on the part of the Republicans, 
on the ground that the Southern people were not thor- 
oughly subdued, and willing to submit to the domination 
and supremacy of the Federal Government. The Repub- 
lican party, as represented in the present Congress, may be 
regarded as consisting of two sections — the one, which by 
common acceptation has received the name of " Radicals," 
under the leadership of Mr. Chase ; and the other, which 
claims to be the Republican party, of which Mr. Seward 
may be regarded as the type and representative. And yet 
all three of these parties, if so they can be called — Demo- 
crats, Radicals, and Republicans — claim to be friends and 
supporters of President Johnson. It is a little remarkable 
that the Democrats and Republicans, whilst contending 



282 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

against each other with great intensity for local power 
within their respective States, yet both endorsed President 
Johnson and his policy in their party conventions, and 
pledged themselves to his support. This must show the 
strong hold which the leaders of these parties know Mr. 
Johnson has upon the affections of the people at large. 
And never in the course of his eventful life has he shown 
himself more of a statesman, more self-poised and self- 
reliant, than in the attitude he now occupies between the 
contending parties. He belongs, strictly speaking, to 
neither. He refuses to identify himself with the partisan 
objects or purposes either may be trying to accomplish 
for the future. He seems thoroughly to understand his 
position as a great popular tribune in these times of com- 
motion and trouble — and to know what the people of this 
country expect at his hands. He seems to fully appreciate 
his duty and his mission— the restoring and readjusting the 
disturbed relations of a mighty confederacy, and of avoid- 
ing all party complications likely to mar that result. He 
cannot and he will not forget that he is the President of 
the nation, and not the head or the instrument of a party. 
In a country where rival parties exist, it is very difficult 
for any man intrusted with high functions to maintain an 
independent position between them without affiliating with 
either, and yet preserve his influence and power so as to 
control and direct the current of political events. History 
shows but few such men. Andrew Johnson is one of 
them. 

The Democratic party have no exclusive claims on 
President Johnson, either on the score of consistency or 
of gratitude. Although a Democrat in his antecedents, 
yet, by the irretrievable force of circumstances, he was 
forced into association with the Republican party in 1861. 
Mr. Buchanan, as the organ of the Democratic party, had 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 283 

placed that party in a false position before the country/ 
By his inertness and imbecility in refusing to exert tl4 
national supremacy, when State after State raised the flag 
of disunion, he placed the Democratic party in the attitude 
of being willing to tolerate, if not of directly assenting to, 
the validity of secession. The Republican party, on com- 
ing into power in 1861, by the prompt alacrity with which 
they voted men and money, and the determination they 
exhibited to maintain the authority of the Government, 
thereby secured to themselves the strength and influence 
in the public mind of being regarded as the Union party. 
Mr. Johnson, true to his previous professions, warnings, 
and declarations, followed the impulses of duty, regardless 
of all previous party affiliations. He regarded the salva- 
tion of the Union as paramount to all partisan or selfish 
considerations; and in taking his position in the Union 
ranks, he did not care or inquire what position in party 
warfare his comrades either on the right or the left had 
occupied before. The Republicans nominated and elected 
him. The Democrats, in the main, voted against him. 
The latter, therefore, cannot charge Mr. Johnson with 
having in anywise misled them, or with being ungrateful 
for confidence reposed. 

On the other hand, the Republicans, it is true, nomina- 
ted and elected him. But it was not because he was a 
Republican. It was because of his incalculable services 
in fighting the battle for the Union. It was because of his 
well-known strength and power in Tennessee. No one 
will deny that it was owing to his influence and exertions, 
that East Tennessee stood firm in defence of the Union, and 
that that State furnished some thirty thousand men to the 
Union army. It may safely be asserted that no one man 
throughout the entire country did as much effective service 
in the cause of the Union as Andrew Johnson. On the 



284 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

score of favors conferred, therefore, if any one should be 
disposed to rest the matter on no higher grounds, the 
[Republican party owes as much to President Johnson as 
he owes to them. They nominated him with the full 
knowledge that he had been a lifelong Democrat of the 
Jackson school. They did not require of him that he 
should disavow any of the principles or professions of his 
former political life. They well knew that although he 
had always been a firm, decided, and consistent Union 
man, yet at the same time that he had on many occa- 
sions, in the most emphatic manner, declared himself as 
opposed to consolidation^ and in favor of main taming the 
dignity and integrity of the States. Neither, therefore, has 
the Republican party any exclusive claims on President 
Johnson in a party point of view. No more than the 
Democrats, can they charge him with having misled or 
deceived them. He is a Republican to the extent of an 
unwavering determination to maintain the Union. There 
is no reason, however, for supposing that he has repudiated 
the long-cherished and well-known principles of his politi- 
cal life, except so far as he may be compelled by circum- 
stances to modify them in adapting his action to the 
changed condition of affairs. 

The Republicans must not expect President Johnson 
to merge the identity of his position, as the great ar- 
biter between struggling parties and conflicting opinions, 
as the magnanimous ruler of a great people, into that 
of the mere partisan. They must not expect him to lend 
himself to measures of bitter and unsparing resentment 
against the Southern States, contrary to all the professions 
and principles of his past life, and in contravention of that 
paternal regard which, as the Chief Executive of the Re- 
public, he entertains for every part and parcel of the entire 
Union. No one suffered more personally; no one in- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSOH. 285 

curred greater sacrifices ; no one has greater cause for re- 
sentful feelings against secessionists and disunionists, than 
President Johnson. If he can afford to forget and to for- 
give, if he can ignore the troubles, the horrors, and the 
wrongs of the past in his great anxiety to promote harmony 
between sections, and national prosperity in the future, 
with what show of justice can those who incurred no per- 
sonal sacrifice, who were distant from the scene of opera- 
tions, and are therefore the less qualified to judge of the 
mitigating circumstances and considerations of the late ter- 
rible conflict, charge Mr. Johnson with undue sympathy 
for those who were the authors of the late troubles ? 

Although the record of President Johnson's past life 
proves him to be a man of unyielding firmness of purpose 
when acting on his conscientious convictions of duty, yet 
the charge of impracticable stubbornness cannot with jus- 
tice be urged against him. He puts forward no claims to 
a dictatorship, great as are the powers with which he has 
been invested. His course, since the Northern elections 
in the fall of 1865, shows that he considers himself as the 
organ of public opinion, and the exponent of the popular 
will, where the violation of no great cardinal principle is 
involved. It cannot be denied that, the unanimity with 
which the Kepublicans triumphed at the last State elec- 
tions, has induced them to make additional demands and 
requirements of the Southern States, in order to the final 
readjustment of their relations with the Federal Govern- 
ment, so as to secure to them all the rights and privileges 
of the other States. Previous to those elections, it was 
understood throughout the country that President John- 
son's system of reconstruction, as prescribed to the Provis- 
ional Governors appointed by himself, contained all the 
requirements necessary of the insurgent States, and that 
they were perfectly satisfactory to all parties at the North. 



286 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

All parties had endorsed and approved this policy in their 
conventions and their platforms. Nothing was then said 
of requiring of the Southern States that they should by 
their own conventions abolish slavery ; that they should 
ratify the amendment of the Federal Constitution, forever 
forbidding slavery in the United States ; and that they 
should repudiate the debts of the respective States, con- 
tracted in the prosecution of the war. After the elections 
referred to, the Kepublican party put forth these addition- 
al requirements, as conditions precedent to the Southern 
States being admitted to a full participation of their rights 
in the National Legislature, by the admission of their mem- 
bers in Congress. 

President Johnson did not throw himself in hostility to 
the Kepublican party, in regard to these additional require- 
ments of the Southern States. He acted as a wise and 
prudent statesman should have done. Of unshaken firm- 
ness where principle is involved, he is conciliatory and ac- 
commodating where mere expediency is concerned. The 
views and sentiments of the Kepublican party, as ex- 
pressed through the ballot-box, he felt himself bound to 
regard as the will of the controlling power in the nation. 
The Republican policy largely predominated in the Na- 
tional Legislature. An issue between the Executive and 
Legislative Departments of the Government would have 
added to the difficulties already existing, and which Mr. 
Johnson was so anxious to remove, and would have hin- 
dered and delayed the work of readjustment which he was 
laboring to accomplish. He would have destroyed his use- 
fulness to both sections by allowing himself to be drawn 
into a conflict with Congress. His position was too im- 
portant a one, his duties too high, the accomplishment of 
his mission fraught with consequences too vast to allow of 
his merging his character as a great national umpire into 



LITE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 287 

that of a partisan on the one side or the other. As the 
friend of both sections, as the only practicable connecting 
link between them, anxious to bring them in harmonious con- 
nection, he frankly informed the authorities of the Southern 
States what was required of them by the controlling public 
sen timent of the North. This controlling power was afact 
which he could not ignore or disregard. As to what may 
have been his own individual opinions in regard to the inter- 
polations of these additional requirements of the Southern 
people, nothing is positively known. Nor is it at all material, 
so far as his consistency or patriotism is concerned. If he 
would have preferred that these additional demands should 
not have been made of the Southern States, then it shows 
that he appreciated the power and influence of the Repub- 
lican party. It shows his unwillingness to break with 
them. It shows his anxiety to cultivate harmony, and 
concert with them in carrying out the great work of recon- 
struction on which he is engaged. It shows that where 
mere expediency is concerned, he is willing to yield, for 
the sake of peace, and to secure the accomplishment of 
great and important results. It shows that he regards 
himself as the constitutional President of a great Repub- 
lic, and not as a despot whose will should be the law. On 
the other hand, if there are any in the South who are dis- 
posed to censure President Johnson, and to complain of 
his course as arbitrary and tyrannical, then they judge 
him unfairly and ungenerously. 

Mr. Johnson knew that slavery was dead and gone 
forever, independently of any action on the part of the 
Southern States. He knew that by yielding with calmness 
and dignity to what was their inevitable destiny, the 
Southern people would acquire great moral strength — that 
they would thus occupy a vantage ground from which they 
might enforce their claims for speedy admission to all their 



288 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

constitutional rights in the Union. He knew that they 
would thus falsify the charge that they still entertained 
sentiments of bitter hostility to the Government, and that 
they still cherished rebellious feelings against it. It was 
in the spirit of friendly advice, and not of heartless dicta- 
tion, that he communicated to the Southern States the ad- 
ditional guaranties they were required to afford that 
slavery should no longer be a bone of contention between 
the two sections, nor further disturb their harmonious rela- 
tions. In reference to the debts contracted by the individ- 
ual States in the prosecution of the war, he acted in con- 
currence with the views of a majority in probably every 
Southern State. The war had wrecked the fortunes of 
nearly all men in the South, Union men and secessionists 
alike. He could see no just cause why those who had in- 
vested in State securities should be so much more highly 
favored than those who had invested in " Confederate 
States " securities, when both had been issued for the pros- 
ecution of a war which had spread ruin and desolation 
over the land. Besides, he knew that a very large portion 
of the people of the South were opposed to the war, both in 
its origin and its reckless continuation, and that it was only 
under duress that they had submitted to its burdens and 
its exactions. He thought it hard and cruel that these 
men, in addition to their heavy losses, should be further 
taxed to pay the expenses of a war which in their hearts 
they condemned. It is true, the hopes held out to the 
Southern States, of a speedy admission to all their rights 
and privileges in the Union as the result of a compliance 
on their part with the additional requirements mentioned, 
have not yet been fulfilled. But the fault is not Presi- 
dent Johnson's. He makes no secret of his earnest and 
anxious desire to see the Union fully restored in its integ- 
rity and its entirety. He is laboring, with all the influence 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 289 

and power he possesses, to produce that result. The 
Southern States that have acted according to his sugges- 
tions, have gained this advantage, at least — they have by 
their course taken away every pretext or excuse on the 
part of the dominant majority in Congress for longer exclud- 
ing them from the halls of legislation. Let not the South- 
ern States regret what they have done. They have gained 
moral power, at least. They have, moreover, strengthened 
Mr. Johnson's hands, in case any issue (unfortunately for 
the country) be forced on him by the dominant power in 
Congress, where his well-known decision and firmness may 
be called in requisition. 

Some very ungenerous and unjust remarks about Presi- 
dent Johnson have been indulged in by certain prominent 
men of the dominant party in Congress. They have been 
of a general character, however, not involving any specific 
charges against him, thus showing they were the ebullition 
of unfriendly feeling, without any tangible objection on 
which to rest. This, in connection with certain harsh and 
severe language by a portion of the public press, must be 
regarded as the premonitory symptoms of a concerted as- 
sault to be made upon him as soon as the arrangements are 
completed for this purpose. To what extent this disaffec- 
tion to Mr. Johnson's administration may prevail, it is dif- 
ficult to judge. For the good of the entire country, it is 
to be hoped it is confined to a faction, and that the great 
body of the Eepublican party, true to their uniform pro- 
fessions of anxiety for a restored Union, will repudiate 
those who are trying to thwart Mr. Johnson in the accom- 
plishment of that great and patriotic object he has so much 
at heart. If he succeeds, peace, harmony, and prosperity 
will be restored to a long-distracted country. If he fails, 
through the machinations of wicked men, the patriot heart 
sinks in sadness and dismay at contemplating the bitter- 
13 



290 . LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

ness, heart-burning, and alienation of feeling, which will, 
for ages to come, keep the North and the South as thor- 
oughly hostile as are Russia and Poland, as Austria and 
Hungary. In reference to the efforts made to embarrass 
him, Mr. Johnson has shown himself the philosopher as 
well as the statesman. He has not allowed it to ruffle his 
temper or disturb his composure. Guided by the polar 
star of duty, and intent on reaching the goal of a restored 
and harmonious Union, he continues to move forward on 
the direct line of principle, relying upon the justice of his 
countrymen, and the impartial verdict of posterity. He 
refuses, and very properly, to take up any gage of battle, 
thrown down to him by faction, envy, or sectional bigotry. 
His position is such that he cannot afford to quarrel with 
anybody. It is the common lot of all men who have 
reached the highest eminence by their own efforts and force 
of character, and as the reward of merit — and who have 
made for themselves proud names in history — to incur the 
hatred of the censorious, the envious, and the malignant. 
It is "the rough brake that virtue must go through." 
The few men of destiny who have appeared in history, 
and who have been the reformers or recon struct ors of the 
shattered institutions of their country, have been remark- 
able for the calmness and composure with which they 
have allowed the waves of faction to dash themselves to 
pieces harmlessly at their feet. The towering eagle must 
not allow himself to be diverted in his onward flight when 
" hawked at by mousing owls." 

On the other hand, whilst President Johnson will not 
accept the issue of any war of factions or of parties ten- 
dered to him — yet those who calculate on intimidating him 
by threats, or of diverting him from the course of duty by 
raising hard words for arguments, will soon find out that 
they have mistaken their man. He will never consent to 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 291 

be a mere automaton President. He regards his duty as 
something higher, his position as more responsible than 
that of merely keeping the White House, and giving 
weekly receptions / or merely going through the routine 
of signing his name to acts of Congress. He will never 
agree to play the part of the Merovingian Kings of France, 
when mayors of the palace had usurped the kingly power 
in their own hands — nor of the Doges of Yenice, when the 
Council of Ten had monopolized all the powers of the State. 
In his message to Congress in December, 1865, Mr. John- 
son clearly laid down the principles on which he thought 
this Union should be readjusted and this Government ad- 
ministered. That message, taken in connection with an 
address to a delegation of citizens from Montana, in Febru- 
ary last, contain the true chart of his future course, and 
never did there emanate from this distinguished man any 
thing showing a more calm, philosophical, and conscien- 
tious purpose to persist in the course of duty, than this 
address here alluded to ; and yet so free from arrogance, 
dictation, or selfishness ! In this address he refers to his 
previous message to Congress, and reiterates his purpose 
to adhere to the principles therein laid down. The 
following extract from this address will enable the reader 
to judge of the tone and temper pervading the whole of 
it: 

" I think no one can mistake the doctrines of that message. 
It is very easy for persons to misrepresent it, and to make asser- 
tions that this, that, or the other had taken place, or will take 
place ; hut I think I may be permitted to say to you on this occa- 
sion that, taking all my antecedents, going hack to my advent into 
political life, and continuing down to the present time, the great 
cardinal principles set forth in that paper have been my constant 
and unerring guide. After having gone so far, it is impossible for 
me to turn and take a different direction. They will be my guide 



292 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

from this time onward, and those who understand them may know 
where I shall always be found when principle is involved. 

" If I can be instrumental in restoring the Government of the 
United States, in restoring to their true position in the Union 
those States whose relations to the National Government have 
been for a time interrupted by one of the most gigantic rebellions 
that ever occurred in the world, so that we can proclaim once 
more that we are a united people, I shall feel that the measure of 
my ambition has been filled, and filled to overflowing ; and at that 
point, if there be any who are envious and jealous of honor and 
position, I shall be prepared to make them as polite a bow as I 
know how, and thank them to take the place I have occupied, for 
my mission will have been fulfilled. 

" In saying this in the performance of my duty, and in response 
to the encouragement you have given me, I feel that I am in a 
condition not to be arrogant, not to feel imperious or supercilious. 
I feel that I can afford to do right, and so feeling, God being will- 
ing, I intend to do right, and so far as in me lies I intend to 
administer this Government upon the principles that lie at the 
foundation of it. 

" I can inform all aspirants, who are trying to form their com- 
binations for the future, who want to make one organization for 
one purpose, and another for another, that they are not in my 
way ; I am not a candidate for any position, and hence I repeat I 
can afford to do right, and, being in that condition, I will do right. 
I make this announcement for the purpose of letting all know that 
my work is to restore the Government — not to make combinations 
with any reference to any future candidacy for the Presidency of 
the United States. I have reached the utmost round ; my race is 
run ; so far as that is concerned, my object is to perform my duty, 
and that I will endeavor to do. " 

He has, at a still later period, given additional evidence 
of his devotion to long-cherished principles, and of his 
determination of character and of purpose. On February 
10, 1866, a delegation of gentlemen, specially selected by 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 293 

the Legislature of Virginia, formally called on him to pre- 
sent certain resolutions of that body, expressive of their 
confidence in him, and in his wish and intention to do 
justice to the Southern people. In reply to an address 
by Mr. Baldwin, President Johnson spoke at some length. 
He took occasion to give a more detailed exposition of his 
views and purposes than he had done before. He alludes 
to the unmistakable intention of certain ultraists at the 
!North to thwart and embarrass him in carrying out his 
plan of reconstruction, and to change and revolutionize 
the character of the Government ; first, by perverting the 
meaning and intent of certain provisions of the Constitu- 
tion — and secondly, by interpolating additional amendments 
in that instrument, utterly at variance with its general 
spirit and design. That factious disposition to force a 
quarrel on, and bring about a rupture with Mr. Johnson — 
the outcroppings of which have been heretofore hinted at 
in this work — has now disclosed itself too plainly to be 
mistaken. President Johnson, no doubt, feels that to 
attempt to ignore this combination against him, would be 
a useless affectation. In his reply to the Virginia delega- 
tion, he alludes to it in plain and pointed terms. He does 
it in perfect calmness, and free from all temper and per- 
sonal resentment. He does not treat it as a wrong to him- 
self, but to the people of the country — the whole country, 
North and South — whose constitutional rights he feels 
himself bound to protect. In his response alluded to, he 
used the following language : 

" ' No taxation without representation ' was one of the prin- 
ciples which carried us through the Revolution. This great prin- 
ciple will hold good yet ; and if we hut perform our duty, if we 
but comply with the spirit of the resolutions presented to me to- 
day, the American people will maiutain and sustain the great doc- 
trines upon which the Government was inaugurated. It can be 



294 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

done, and it will be done ; and I think that if the effort be fairly 
and fully made, with forbearance and with prudence, and with discre- 
tion and wisdom, the end is not very far distant. 

" I shall continue in the same line of policy which I have pur- 
sued from the commencement of the rebellion to the present 
period. My efforts have been to preserve the Union of the States. 
I never, for a single moment, entertained the opinion that a State 
could withdraw from the Union of its own will. That attempt 
was made. It has failed. I continue to pursue the same line of 
policy which has been my constant guide. I was against dissolu- 
tion. Dissolution was attempted — it has failed — and now I can- 
not take the position that a State which attempted to secede is 
out of the Union, when I contended all the time that it could not 
go out, and that it has never been out. I cannot be forced into 
that position. Hence, when the States and their people shall have 
complied with the requirements of the Government, I shall be in 
favor of their resuming their former relations to this Government 
in all respects. 

" I do not intend to say any thing personal, but you know as 
well as I do that at the beginning, and indeed before the beginning 
of the recent gigantic struggle between the different sections of 
the country, there were extreme men South, and there were ex- 
treme men North. I might make use of a homely figure (which 
is sometimes as good as any other, even in the illustration of great 
and important questions), and say that it has been hammer at one 
end of the line and anvil at the other ; and this great Government, 
the best the world ever saw, was kept upon the anvil and ham- 
mered before the rebellion, and it has been hammered since the 
rebellion ; and there seems to be a disposition to continue the 
hammering until the Government shall be destroyed. I have 
opposed that system always, and I oppose it now. 

" The Government, in the assertion of its powers, and in the 
maintenance of the principles of the Constitution, has taken hold 
of one extreme, and with the strong arm of physical power has put 
down the rebellion. Now, as we swing around the circle of the 
Union with a fixed and unalterable determination to stand by it, 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 295 

if we find the counterpart or the duplicate of the same spirit that 
played to this feeling and these persons in the South, this other 
extreme which stands in the way must get out of it, and the Gov- 
ernment must stand unshaken and unmoved on its basis. The 
Government must be preserved. 

"I am gratified to find the loyal sentiment of the country 
developing and manifesting itself in these expressions ; and now 
the attempt to destroy the Government has failed at one end of 
the line, I trust we shall go on determined to preserve the Union 
in its original purity against all opposers. 

" I have no ambition and no object beyond the restoration of 
this Government. I feel that I am in a condition where I can 
afford to do right. The climax, the acme, the summit of my 
ambition, has been fully reached, yea more than reached. 
If now I can only arrive at a point at which these States are all 
restored, each having its representation in the national councils, 
with the Union restored so that we can once more proclaim 
peace and good will among the people of the United States, it 
will be to me a happy day. I care not what may be said in 
taunt or jeer, I care not what may be insinuated, but I tell yon 
that whenever I shall have reached that point, the measure of 
my ambition will have been filled, and more than filled. I 
have no object beyond it. Oh, how proud and gratifying it 
would be to me to retire from this place, feeling and knowing that 
I had been instrumental in consummating this great end ! " 



CHAPTEE XX. 

President Johnson's Position— If he Falters he is Lost— The Misfortune of the 
South in 1861— President Johnson badly treated— Approval of his Plan by 
both Parties at the North— The Southern People regarded the Kequire- 
ments as Final and Conclusive — Veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill — 
Sentiments of the North— Meeting in Washington to sustain the Presi- 
dent. 

It must be apparent, to all observing men, that Pres- 
ident Johnson's position is a difficult and unpleasant 
one. He was elected by " the Kepublican party," as that 
party was constituted in 1864. He affiliated with that 
party, at that time, on the great and absorbing question of 
the day — the preservation of the Union. To carry out 
that object expressly, he was nominated and elected Vice- 
President. To consummate that purpose, not in name, 
but in fact and in truth, he is still anxious to continue his 
affiliation and cooperation with the party that elected him. 
He intends to remain true to his professions and his faith. 
If those who united with him to prevent the dismember- 
ment of the Union, now attempt to prevent its thorough 
restoration — more especially after having endorsed his re- 
construction policy in their party platforms — how can they, 
with any consistency, expect him to forget all his past 
professions ; how can they expect him to forget the very 
cause and groundwork of his association with them, and 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 297 

abandon the accomplishment of that work which has been 
his leading object in all his struggles and sacrifices for the 
last five years ? The nltra men of the North have no more 
right to expect him to unite with them on the ground of 
party association in their reckless and intemperate course, 
in endeavoring to prevent the restoration of the Union, 
than had the ultra men of the South to calculate on his 
following them in their wild crusade of destroying the 
Union, because he had been previously united with them 
in maintaining the constitutional rights of the South against 
aggression. He ignored party in 1861, to save the Union 
from disruption ; and if necessary he will again ignore 
party in 1866, in order to its restoration in all its integrity. 

As said before, President Johnson will not allow him- 
self to be forced into any party ground. The work he has 
in hand is above all party. He will continue his onward 
march along the path of duty, regardless of denunciation, 
sneers, and taunts, from any and all quarters. His course 
will be directed by his convictions of duty to the rights 
and interests of the people, and to the people he will ap- 
peal when embarrassed by faction. An issue between the 
Executive and Legislative Departments of the Govern- 
ment would be a result greatly to be deplored. It is an is- 
sue Mr. Johnson will never seek. It is an issue he will 
avoid, if possible; but if forced on him, with a view of de- 
stroying his power, influence, and character, and of reduc- 
ing him to a mere cipher, he will stand firm and unshak- 
en. He is over and above all other departments of the 
Government, the national representative of the will and 
power of the people of the whole country. 

President Johnson cannot recede. If he falters, he is 
lost. The prestige of his power and his name rests upon 
his character for firmness, conscientiousness, and devotion 
to the rights of the people. He has all the time during the 



298 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

war, and since the war, maintained the position that the 
insurgent States were not out of the Union, and that as 
soon as they afforded evidence of returning loyalty, they 
were entitled to a full restoration of all their rights in the 
Union — to an admission of their representatives into the 
national councils, and to a participation in all the national 
privileges and benefits. If he yields this point now, if he 
allows himself to be made the instrument of faction, in 
merely executing the orders of those who may be intent on 
preventing the operations of the Government, with a view 
to party combinations and party ends hereafter, he will be- 
come a nonentity, he will be made to be his own political 
self-executioner, and history will write him down as a 
failure instead of a success. But this will never be. He 
is too sagacious to be entrapped by the wiles of those who 
are trying to circumvent him. He is too firm to yield to 
their dictation. He is too conscientious and patriotic to 
turn back on the pathway of duty because briers and 
thorns may be thrown in his way. 

The author by no means intends to intimate that the 
Eepublican party is either engaged in or sanctions the cov- 
ert attempts now being made to undermine and destroy 
President Johnson's power and influence, and to reduce 
him to a mere caricature President. It is hoped and be- 
lieved that when an issue is finally forced on him, the 
great body of that party will be found adhering to and sus- 
taining him, true to the professions of their party platforms 
in endorsing his reconstruction policy, and on which the 
people elected their representatives in Congress. When 
the crisis has fully come, and the issue has to be met, it will 
probably be found that a comparatively few in the Eepub- 
lican party have by their greater zeal and clamor manufac- 
tured a sort of factitious public opinion, which they assume 
to be the sentiment of that entire party. Just as it was 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 



299 



in the South in 1861, when a comparatively few men, by 
their stratagem, concert, combination, and energy, suc- 
ceeded in imposing on the people their own disunion sen- 
timents as the fair expression of the popular will. This 
they effected in a great degree by clamor, and by the 
charge of disloyalty to the South against every man who 
dared to resist their efforts. In the same way the ultra- 
ists of the North are trying, by the charge of " copperhead- 
ism," to " frighten from their propriety " the conservative 
Eepublicans who are disposed to sustain President John- 
son in his great work of restoring the Union in its origi- 
nal spirit and object— of equal privileges and equal burdens 
to all the States. 

But the misfortune of the South in 1861 was, that 
there was no Andrew Johnson at the head of affairs. If 
there had been, he would have saved the country from the 
blood and slaughter, the sorrows and sufferings, the finan- 
cial troubles and cumbrous debt, of four years of civil war. 
Does any one doubt, if Andrew Johnson had been Presi- 
dent in 1860-'61, instead of James Buchanan, he would 
have crushed disunion and secession in their origin % An- 
drew Johnson is President now. The " extreme " men of 
the South were forced ultimately to succumb. And now 
we have the assurance of President Johnson, as enunciated 
by him in his reply to the Yirginia delegation, that 
" the other extreme," in the North, "which stands in the 
way " of a restoration of the Union, " must get out of it, 
and the Government must stand unshaken and unmoved 
on its basis." It was the dying boast of Augustus that he 
found Kome built of brick, and left it built of marble. 
If President Johnson succeeds in the accomplishment of 
his great mission, his dying boast will be a much prouder 
one than that of Augustus. He will be able to say that 
he found a great and powerful republic of thirty millions 



300 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

of people, shaken and distracted by a bloody war of four 
years' duration, and left it united and harmonious, and 
again progressing in its onward career of prosperity, hap- 
piness, and renown. 

It must strike impartial men, who are free from party 
bias, that President Johnson has been badly treated. At 
an early period after the termination of the war, he laid 
down his plan of reconstruction preparatory to the admis- 
sion of the insurgent States into the Union, with all the 
rights and privileges of the other States. This plan was 
contained in his chart of instructions to the Provisional 
Governors appointed by himself. This plan was virtually 
approved by the people of both parties at the North, in 
their endorsation of Mr. Johnson in all their party plat- 
forms previous to the election. The people of the South- 
ern States, with almost entire unanimity, conformed to this 
plan, under an implied understanding, as they supposed, 
that this was all that was necessary on their part in order 
to the acquisition of their former status in the Union. At 
this time nothing had been heard of their being required 
to abolish slavery by their State conventions, the ratifica- 
tion of the amendment of the Constitution of the United 
States, and of the repudiation of the debts contracted 
by the individual States in the prosecution of the war. 
President Johnson and Secretary Seward, as the organs of 
public opinion expressed by the dominant [Republican par- 
ty at the North — in the result of the fall elections of 1865 
— suggested to the people of the Southern States a con- 
formity with these additional requirements. They were 
conformed to with alacrity and in good faith, by the con- 
ventions of those States. In communicating these de- 
mands to the Southern States, as additional conditions 
precedent to their complete and entire rehabilitation in all 
their rights as members of the Union, the President and 



LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 301 

Secretary acted in good faith. They were honest and sin- 
cere in advising the Southern States that it was the part 
of wisdom and of policy to comply with these demands. 
The Southern people regarded these requirements ^ final 
and conclusive. In complying with these suggestions on 
the part of the highest functionaries of the Government, 
under the intimation, as they supposed, that the last objec- 
tion would be thus removed, they thought they had finally 
passed through the fiery ordeal of the consequences of re- 
sistance to the Government, followed by conquest and sub- 
jugation. 

But, lo, and behold the result ! The Southern people 
have done all that men can do in atonement for past wrong 
on their part. They have admitted their error in the pas- 
sage of ordinances, annulling their ordinances of secession, 
and declaring them void ah initio / they have given the 
strongest evidence of their loyal submission to the Govern- 
ment ; and they most earnestly request to be fully and 
finally restored to that Union from which they madly 
attempted to depart. They, no doubt, feel most keenly 
the disappointment and mortification to which they have 
been subjected. They feel that they have been misled — 
that where they expected generosity and forbearance, they 
have received neglect and scorn. But they do not blame 
President Johnson for this. So far from it, they seem to 
entertain a stronger attachment for him, and a stronger 
faith in his truth and justice — believing, as they do, that he, 
too, was misled and deceived in holding out hopes and 
making implied promises, which he is ready and anxious 
to fulfil on his part, but in which he finds himself thwarted 
by others. How can any sane man expect him to quietly 
allow himself to be made the instrument of misleading and 
deluding the Southern people? Not only his sense of 
justice, but his sense of self-respect, alike forbids his dis- 



302 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

appointing hopes resting upon implied promises on his 
part. To require this of him would be to ask him to for- 
feit his word — a thing he never has done, and will not do 
now. The ultraists of the North seem resolved to put 
President Johnson's metal to the test. When they force the 
issue upon him, they will find that he has not forgotten that 
the ashes of General Jackson rest in the soil of Tennessee. 
It will not require any pilgrimage to the tomb of the hero, 
to teach him his duty. His assailants will find that his 
power rests in the conservation and loyal masses of the 
people, North and South. These will sustain him against 
the schemes of faction, and will stand by him in any meas- 
ures he may be compelled to adopt in consummating his 
great object of perfecting the Union, and placing it on a 
basis which will make it perpetual. As well might the 
fanatical sectaries of Germany, who committed such horrible 
excesses in the name of the Protestant faith, have required 
that Luther and his great compeers in the Reformation, 
should pervert the true principles of Protestantism, to the 
proscription and persecution of those who objected to their 
hateful and wicked course. 

Since the foregoing pages of this work were written, 
President Johnson has returned to the Senate, where it 
originated, with his veto, the bill for the enlargement of 
the powers of the u Freedmen's Bureau." It would be 
idle for the author to attempt any argument to prove the 
demerits and evil consequences likely to follow the bill, in 
case it had become a law. The message of the President, 
accompanying the return of the bill, presents the argument 
against it in the most simplified, condensed, and unanswer- 
able form. It confirms and strengthens his reputation as 
a strong and forcible writer. It rarely happens that the 
same man is able and fluent, both as a speaker and a 
writer. Such, however, is President Johnson. As a 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 303 

State paper, this veto message cannot be excelled. It is in 
good taste, free from all temper and excitement, respectful 
to the Legislative Department of the Government, decided 
in tone, plain and easy of comprehension, and free from all 
ad eaptandum appeals. He conld not have done other- 
wise than veto this bill, and yet preserve his consistency 
as a constitutional Executive. The approval of this bill 
would have been in violation of all the professions of his 
past life. It would have forever destroyed the prestige of 
his character and name, which rests on the conviction per- 
vading the public mind, that he is a man who thinks for 
himself, and that he cannot be driven to violate a high 
sense of public duty. The great objection to this bill was 
not so much in its special objects designed to be accom- 
plished, as in the consideration that it would have thor- 
oughly effected a consolidation of the Government. It 
would have virtually erased all State lines, and have re- 
duced the States to a condition even below that of corpora- 
tions ; for corporations have their protection under the 
law, and the courts to enforce the law. Even in imperial 
France, such an interference with municipal rights, such 
a usurpation of the internal domestic police regulations 
of the territorial departments, would be regarded as an act 
of unwarranted despotism. The veto message shows on 
its very face the deep regret Mr. Johnson felt at taking 
the position he has done. The blame is not his. An issue 
is now fairly made up, which the people must ultimately 
decide. It is in the name of the people and the people's 
rights that Mr. Johnson has vetoed this bill. It was not 
because the provisions of the bill were to apply to the 
Southern States exclusively — it was not because of any 
especial regard for the Southern people that he refused 
to approve it. It was because its passage would have 
established a precedent that would have enabled the Gen- 



304: LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

eral Government to monopolize any and all the powers of 
State legislation — which would, in fact, have revolutionized 
the whole principles and structure on which the Govern- 
ment has been administered from its foundation. 

It is hoped and believed that the majority in Congress 
that voted for the bill do not fairly reflect the sentiments 
of the Republicans of the North. It is to be hoped the con- 
servative masses of the Republican party will rally to Mr. 
Johnson and sustain him in his efforts to save the rights of 
the people and of their respective States from being ab- 
sorbed by the central power. He rallied to them — and he 
rallied a large portion of the people of Tennessee to them 
— to save the Union from disruption ; will they now refuse 
to rally to him in his endeavors to heal the wounds inflicted 
on the Union by a terrible war, and to remove the obsta- 
cles in the way of its harmonious reconstruction ? That 
an effort will be made by some to read President Johnson 
out of the Republican organization, there is no doubt. 
But if the people are true to themselves — true to their pro- 
fessions of devotion to the Union, both before and during 
the war as to the object of its prosecution — true to the 
great principles on which the Government was founded, 
and on which it has been so long administered — those who 
may endeavor to read out President Johnson will find 
themselves read out, when the ballot-box shall issue its 
irresistible decree. Those who may suppose that he issued 
that veto on a calculation of political chances, and that, in 
case he may not be sustained by public opinion, he would 
hereafter regret his course as having been based on a mis- 
conception of popular feeling, know not the man. His 
course has been dictated by his conviction of duty. And 
even supposing it possible that, through the appliances of 
party machinery, the popular decision should be against 
him, still those who may believe that his future days 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 305 

would be embittered by regret and disappointment grow- 
ing out of the reflection that he had misjudged the temper 
of the public mind, understand nothing of the notions and 
principles by which such a man as Andrew Johnson is 
actuated. Although he is a firm believer in the capacity 
of man for self-government, although he has full con- 
fidence in the ultimate correct decision of the popular 
judgment, yet he is no mere vane on the political house- 
top, shifting with the current of every passing breeze. He 
considers it the part of a great statesman to march in the 
van, or at least abreast of public opinion — to aid in 
pioneering the popular judgment to a correct conclusion — 
and not merely to follow behind, and hurrah in its wake. 

On Wednesday, 28th February, 1866, there was a very 
large and enthusiastic meeting of the citizens of Washing- 
ton, held for the purpose of sustaining and endorsing Pres- 
ident Johnson, and his course in vetoing the bill alluded 
to. The people, numbering thousands, marched to the 
"White House, to testify their admiration and respect for 
him. He was called for, and he had to appear. To avoid 
addressing the crowd on such an occasion, was out of the 
question. He did address them, and in his address he 
spoke in his usually bold, straightforward style. He 
reiterated his determination to persevere in the discharge 
of the great duties devolving on him. There was no turn- 
ing or prevarication in his remarks. He repeated his un- 
yielding purpose to adhere to the Constitution, and to 
maintain and preserve, to the extent of his power, the 
great principles of free government embodied in that 
instrument. He announced his resolution to do his duty, 
regardless of all consequences, either political or personal. 
That he felt deeply, is evident from the tenor of the whole 
syjeech. He felt deeply wronged from certain quarters ; 
and manly resentment under a consciousness of wrong has 



306 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

ever been a trait of his character. Still he is too well- 
balanced in mind and disposition to even carry his resent- 
ment beyond the bounds of dne self-respect and self-defence. 
Those who expected him to quail before denunciation, 
sneers, and threats, have now discovered what sort of a 
man they have to deal with. The responses from the peo- 
ple in all parts of the country, in support of Mr. Johnson's 
veto, and his general policy, are of the most cheering char- 
acter. It shows that the masses are being aroused to the 
conviction that the Government is in danger of beina; rev- 
olutionized by faction, and that they rely on the man of 
the people — Andrew Johnson — to guard and protect 
their rights and their liberties. 

Insinuations have been made by Mr. Johnson's ene- 
mies that he had abandoned the Republican party, and 
was about to throw himself in the arms of the Democratic 
party. This. is a foul and unmitigated slander. The 
peculiar circumstances of his position, and the peculiar 
character of the work he has to do, forbid his being a mere 
party man. He is very much in the situation Washing- 
ton was in 1789, when he "first took charge of the Govern- 
ment. "When Washington saw his Revolutionary compa- 
triots arrayed against each other in party conflict, he iden- 
tified himself with neither, although he sympathized with 
the Federal party, because of his association with them in 
the advocacy of a Confederate Government of separate 
States ; yet he never belonged to any party, in the real 
sense of a party man. His was the high mission of inau- 
gurating and putting into successful operation a Union un- 
der which for seventy-one years the country was prosper- 
ous and happy. Mr. Johnson was, by the current of 
events, drawn into affiliation with the Republican organiza- 
tion (we prefer not to use the term party in connection 
with his name), upon the great issue of preserving the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 307 

Union from dismemberment. The stand-point of this or- 
ganization was, that the Union should be maintained on its 
original basis and in its original character, as comprehend- 
ing all the States, upon terms of perfect equality. His 
sympathies and affiliations must continue with the Re- 
publicans, as long as they remain true to the great prin- 
ciple which first brought him in affiliation with them — the 
maintenance of a Union of all the States, with equal 
privileges and equal burdens. If every Republican were 
to desert him, he would be found " solitary and alone," as 
he was in the Senate of the United States in 1860-'61, 
when he was left, the only one of all the Southern Sena- 
tors, to fight the battle of the Union. Although his heart 
was then wrung with anguish at finding himself deserted 
day after day by his former political comrades, who aban- 
doned the post of duty to rush into the yortex of revolu- 
tion, yet his stout heart, his devotion to duty, his glowing 
patriotism, and his unerring judgment as to the result, 
bore him up and sustained him. It was an awful and 
trying crisis, but he went through it unscathed. No small 
man could have gone through such a tempest without ship- 
wreck. When smaller men were quaking and trembling 
amid the din of war and the clash of arms, Andrew John- 
son stood firm, erect, and undismayed. When the Gov- 
ernment seemed to be shaken as it were by a moral earth- 
quake, the voice of Andrew Johnson was heard above the 
loudest howlings of the storm, in those mighty efforts of 
his, from which we have given extracts, calling on his 
countrymen to come to the rescue. 

Unjust and uncharitable insinuations have also been 
indulged in, that Mr. Johnson is endeavoring to build up 
a new party, by enlisting recruits from all other parties and 
factions, with a view to his reelection as President in 1868. 
Louis N apoleon, in his late life of Julius Csesar, says : " How 



308 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

little able are common men to judge of the motives which 
govern great souls ! " Whether or not such a sentiment 
came consistently from the French Emperor, it does not 
matter. The remark is true. Those who thus misjudge 
Mr. Johnson, estimate him according to a standard of 
political morality by which their own movements are 
regulated. The history of Mr. Johnson's administration 
since he came into power, as well as his whole previous 
life, stamp with falsehood any such charge. There has 
been no President since the days of Monroe, who seems to 
have thought so little of himself in the dispensing of pa- 
tronage, and the exercise of official power, as Andrew 
Johnson. He neither knows nor inquires what may be the 
personal views or party predilections of the thousands 
of officials in the country. Has there been any proscrip- 
tion for opinion's sake ? None whatever. Has he required 
those who hold office to commit themselves to his political 
fortunes ? Not at all. Has he not by his course risked his 
popularity with that party so strongly in the ascendant ? 
Where, then, are the evidences of his trying to pervert his 
official influence, to further the aims of personal ambition \ 
They exist nowhere except in the distempered brains of those 
who thus impugn his motives. Mr. Johnson thinks in his 
head, and feels in his heart, that the greatest boon he could 
bestow on his country, the greatest blessing he could con- 
fer on the people of this Republic, would be the restora- 
tion of harmony and concord among sections and States, 
and the reconstruction of the Union upon an enduring 
basis, preserving in their integrity the original landmarks 
and guaranties of freedom to the citizen, and municipal 
rights to localities, as we received them from our fathers. 
He also thinks and feels that the accomplishment of this 
great object would give him more enduring fame with 
posterity, a loftier name in history, and a brighter 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 309 

and richer legacy to leave to his children, than the 
mere possession of the Presidential office for the bal- 
ance of his life. Some may say this is ambition. Yes, it 
is ambition, snch as Washington possessed. It is the am- 
bition to be useful in his day and time, and to leave his 
country great, prosperous, and happy, when he is no 
more. 



OHAPTEE XXI. 

His Opinion of General Jackson — Great Men the Representatives of some 
cardinal Principle — Washington — Clay — The Rights of the People the 
great Standpoint of President Johnson's Character — His Construction of 
the Constitution — A Moral Lesson in the Study of his Life and Character 
— Influence upon the Youths of the Country — His Manners and Bearing — 
Personal Appearance — Family — His Difficult Task — Attempts of Factions 
to Use him — American, Roman, English, French, and German civilization. 

In his estimate of the character of the great men who 
have adorned our country's annals, Mr. Johnson seems to 
regard General Jackson, next to General Washington, as 
his beau-ideal of a great man. This is not to be wondered 
at. There was very much of similarity in the early his- 
tory of the two men. They were both natives of the same 
State. General Jackson's birthplace, at the time he was 
born, was in what was then considered as North Carolina; 
but on running the division between the two States after- 
wards, it fell south of the dividing line. On leaving their 
native State, both found a home in Tennessee, where they 
were honored and promoted by the same people. Both 
were left orphans at an early age, with widowed mothers 
to provide for. Both were thrown on their own resources, 
with no other fortune than their energy and self-reliance to 
sustain them. Both were favorites of the people, by whom 
they were invariably confided in and sustained. Both 
were decidedly and unaffectedly democratic in their politi- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 311 

cal principles and personal feelings. But it was General 
Jackson's peculiar traits of character as a public man that 
excited the admiration and reverence which Mr. Johnson 
has ever felt for him. His boldness and candor in the 
maintenance and expression of his political opinions on all 
subjects — his determination of purpose amid the most try- 
ing obstacles — his self-reliance under any and all circum- 
stances — his ardent attachment to friends — his unquailing 
resistance to his enemies — his strong, straightforward com- 
mon sense, which carried him directly to the object to be 
attained, regardless of the technical difficulties of logical 
deduction — his love for the people, and his pride in the 
possession of their admiration and esteem — his freedom 
from all affectation of dignified importance — these are the 
traits in General Jackson's character which excite Mr. 
Johnson's profound reverence and veneration. Whenever 
alluding to General Jackson, he cannot repress his feelings. 
In a speech delivered in the House of Representatives in 
1845 — not long before General Jackson's death — Mr. John- 
son thus spoke of him : 

" It is not necessary for me to speak of Andrew Jackson. A 
mere recital of his acts stamps him as one of the greatest civilians 
and military chieftains the world has ever produced ; eulogy de- 
tracts from, instead of adding any thing to his great name ; he has 
performed the important task assigned to him by an all-wise and 
inscrutable Providence. The measure of his country's glory is 
now Ml ; his memory is deeply embalmed in the hearts of a grate- 
ful and prosperous people; he is now in retirement in the bosom 
of his adopted State, surrounded by Tennessee's native forest, en- 
joying the domestic sweets of his own Hermitage, there reflecting 
upon the varied and chequered scenes of his eventful life, which has 
been devoted exclusively to the promotion of his country's good. 
How consoling the meditation in this his very evening of life, 
while the lamp is sending forth its longest and brightest blaze, 



312 LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 

which is soon to sink down to rise no more, and with the consol- 
ing hope of being crowned with eternal happiness beyond the 
grave ! I thank God that General Jackson's reputation stands 
above and beyond the reach of all assaults coming irorn pretended 
friends or open enemies. His history is his country's legacy ; it 
is for the people to defend it against all such attacks ; and palsied 
should be the tongue that dares to calumniate his great name ; 
powerless and withered should be the hand that attempts to pluck 
a single gem from that brilliant chaplet that encircles his illustrious 
brow ! " 

In perusing Mr. Johnson's speeches, the reader is forci- 
bly struck with his thorough acquaintance with the Scrip- 
tures. His quotations and apt illustrations from the Bible 
show a great familiarity with that book, and that his 
reading of it must have been systematic. His frequent 
and reverential allusions to an all-wise and overruling 
Providence show very clearly that he recognizes, in their 
full measure, the great essentials of religious obligation 
and of Christian duty. Although not a communing mem- 
ber of any particular church, he is known to entertain the 
greatest reverence for the Christian religion, and venera- 
tion for the ministers of that faith, whilst he is entirely free 
from any trait of bigotry or sectarianism. 

There is a striking similarity between the history of 
every great people and the characters of great historical 
men. Every great people has its peculiar type of civiliza- 
tion — its peculiar mission to fulfil in solving the problem 
of human progress. Every great man, whose name and 
achievements are a portion of his country's history, is in a 
measure the representative of some great abstract prin- 
ciple which gives him his peculiar identity. Washington 
was the impersonation of a conscientious discharge of 
duty. We see that same trait in his character in every 
relation in which he was ever placed. He was as dutiful a 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 313 

subject to his king and country, before the war of the Revolu- 
tion, as he was a patriot of independence after. Mr. Clay 
was the representative of patriotism. He judged of every 
question, and acted accordingly — with reference to how it 
would affect the honor and glory and happiness of his 
country. The great leading element in Mr. Webster's 
character was liberty regulated by law, as secured in 
the Constitution of the United States. Hence his idolatry 
for that instrument. With Andrew Johnson the great 
stand-point of his character is the rig-hts of the people. 
His devotion, admiration, and regard for the Democratic- 
republican element in our institutions, is no mere affecta- 
tion. Hence we see in the whole history of his life, his 
acts, his speeches, his State papers — all exhibit the same 
watchful jealousy for the rights of the people. He has 
evidently been a great reader of history, especially with a 
view to the investigation of those causes that have under- 
mined and destroyed other Governments. He regards the 
philosophy of government as consisting in the advance- 
ment of the masses in intellect, prosperity, and happiness. 
He has the most unquestionable faith in the capacity of 
man for self-government. His faith in this respect has 
been strengthened by historical reading, which teaches 
that the constant tendency in all Governments is " the 
stealing of power from the many to the few ; " and that 
the highest duty and noblest mission of the statesman is to 
guard and defend the rights of the people against official 
and representative usurpations of power. 

We lind the same principles pervading Mr. Johnson's 
construction of the Constitution. In his interpretation of 
that instrument, he occupies a medium ground between 
the rigid constructionists who chaffer over the letter of the 
Constitution, and those latitudinarians who would stretch 
its spirit so as to embrace any and every power. When- 
14 



314 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

ever the rights of the people are involved on any question 
on which the Constitution is silent or doubtful, Mr. John- 
son looks to the spirit of the instrument. And regarding, 
as he does, the rights of the people to be the great para- 
mount object that underlies the whole framework of our 
social and political systems, he construes the Constitution 
liberally in their favor wherever these rights are involved. 
On the other hand, wherever there is a conflict between 
popular rights and official prerogative and power, he is 
a rigid and strict constructionist in favor of the former as 
against the latter. He has always claimed to be a State- 
rights man. But his view of State rights is different from 
that ordinarily entertained by the special advocates of that 
school. In his maintenance of State rights, he contends 
not for mere territorial privileges, not for the mere rights 
and privileges of one politically organized community as 
against another, but the rights of the people of such State 
or community against official encroachment from any 
other quarter. 

There is a moral lesson in the study of the life and 
character of Andrew Johnson which is calculated and can- 
not fail to make a deep impression on the minds of the ris- 
ing generation. Genius, as has been before remarked, 
is naturally distrustful and retiring. When in poverty 
and undeveloped by education, it needs encouragement to 
enable it to exert its powers. Andrew Johnson's life and 
history speak to genius, when tethered by poverty and ob- 
scurity, the language of cheering and of hope. Let every 
poor boy in the land, no matter how dark may be his pros- 
pects in early life, no matter how friendless, no matter 
how unlearned, think of Andrew Johnson, and never de- 
spair. He here sees an instance of a man who, by constant 
toil and unremitting effort, fought his way from humble 
obscurity to the highest position in the nation. Let him 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 315 

reflect that manual labor, so far from being degrading, is 
honorable and praiseworthy when resorted to as a means 
of honest independence. It is also well calculated to make 
him proud of, and devoted to his country, when he reflects 
that our Government recognizes no royal road to honor 
and distinction, but that, as in the Olympic games of an- 
tiquity, every one may enter the lists for distinction with 
equal chances for success, and that the laurel crown of the 
victor is awarded to merit and to worth. Let him reflect 
that even without early education it is never too late to be- 
gin to learn, and that the human mind, by its own exer- 
tions, may achieve wonders in science and learning when 
urged on and sustained by a determination to excel. 

But let him reflect at the same time that toil and en- 
ergy, and force of character, alone will not suffice. These, 
when united with the most brilliant genius, must fail 
of success unless accompanied with sobriety, honesty, 
truthfulness, justice. Here is the solution of the problem 
of Andrew Johnson's success. He saw that moral prin- 
ciple must be the basis of all exalted character and fame 
with posterity. Constant success has never intoxicated 
him (as it has many of the highest promise) with the idea 
that he dare disregard the high moral obligations of those 
private virtues mentioned. Let the youths of our country 
contemplate the history of Andrew Johnson, and then re-- 
solve that " onward and upward " shall be their motto. 
Let neglected genius, when it weeps at the want of sympa- 
thy on the part of the world ; let honest poverty, when it 
shudders at the dark prospect of the future ; let humble ob- 
scurity, when it writhes under " the oppressor's wrong " 
or " the proud man's contumely ; " let a noble ambition to 
be useful as it turns with despondence from a survey of the 
great theatre of life, or beholding the parts filled in great 
measure by the unworthy and the time-serving — let all 



316 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

these think of Andrew Johnson, take cheer and comfort, 
and brace themselves up for an encounter with the obsta- 
cles of life. But let them all remember, in their noble 
emulation for usefulness and fame, that a high and exalted 
moral virtue is the very key-stone of the arch of greatness 
— that 

" talents angel-bright, 
If wanting worth, are shining instruments 
In false ambition's hand, to finish faults 
Illustrious, and give infamy renown." 

Mr. Johnson possesses in an eminent degree one facul- 
ty which is a never-failing characteristic of greatness. 
That is the faculty of, insensibly as it were, and without 
effort, influencing, directing, and regulating the action of 
those with whom he is brought in contact. This mysteri- 
ous mesmeric influence, which some men thus impercepti- 
bly exercise over others, is a thing impossible to analyze or 
explain. But so it is. It is an unquestionable evidence 
of force of character. It is native, and can't be acquired. 
It has been described by the historians of all ages and 
countries as an element of greatness. Andrew Johnson 
never has been, and could not be, mediocre and common- 
place, in any position occupied by him. In old party 
times, it is doubtful whether any man of his day influenced 
and directed the party action of those with whom he was 
affiliated more than he did. Whether as commissioner of 
the village of G-reeneville, Tennessee, or as a member of the 
Senate of the United States, he stamped the impress of his 
character and influence on all those with whom he was 
brought in council. This trait of character he seems to 
have possessed from boyhood, so the author has been in- 
formed by one who received the statement as coming 
directly from an old companion of Mr. Johnson in his 
boyhood, and who is now living. He was asked if there 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 317 

was any tiling remarkable or striking in Andrew Johnson 
when a boy, differently from other boys. "No," said 
he, " nothing particular, except this : There was a set 
of ns apprentice-boys that generally went together, 
when we were not at work, and Johnson always led 
the crowd. I don't know how it was, but somehow or 
other he always had things his own way, and without any 
contention we all gave up to him. If he said, ' Go a-hunt- 
ing,' why, all the rest of us agreed to it, and we went 
a-hunting. Or if he said, ' Let us go in swimming,' we all 
went a-swimming. And so it was with every thing else. 
We all gave way to him." 

In his manners and bearing toward those who are 
brought in contact with him, President Johnson is very 
much the same man now that he was when in early man- 
hood he labored for an honest living. It is not unknown 
to the author that it has been ungenerously and untruly 
charged that he was a man of morose, sullen, and unsocial 
disposition. That calumny had its day, and was lived 
down by Mr. Johnson. It came from sources personally 
unfriendly. He is rather a retiring man, as is almost uni- 
formly the case with sensitive men of genius, who have 
been neglected in early life. Being a man of great sagacity 
in his judgment and estimate of human character, he ob- 
serves men a little closely before admitting them tc 
his confidence. Besides, he is a man of great dignity of 
character, and he must know a man well, and have known 
him long, before encouraging a familiarity which, when 
indulged too far, is apt to undermine esteem and respect. 
Instances no doubt have occurred where those who have 
maligned and flouted Mr. Johnson during the canvass, 
have after his triumph affected to honor the position by 
the proffer of respectful consideration to the man. He has 
rarely been deceived in such cases. In fact, sagacious men 



318 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

who have had much experience in public life, acquire a 
sort of intuitive perception, which enables them to discover 
who are sincerely their friends and who are not. In some 
such supposed instances Mr. Johnson may not have greeted 
his quondam calumniators with the warmth they ex- 
pected, and hence the unfounded insinuations that he was 
a man lacking in the amenities and courtesies of life. 
The author has been at pains to inform himself correctly 
on this score. And the concurrent testimony of all who 
have been brought in contact with him, either officially or 
socially — whether his political friends or enemies, whether 
his personal admirers or those who felt indifferently tow- 
ard him — Mr. Johnson is a man who, while he never for- 
gets what is due to himself, never fails in the observance 
of that civility and politeness which is due to others. He 
never presumes on his official station to treat with rude- 
ness or discourtesy those who seek his presence. To his 
old friends and acquaintances he is affable and cordial, to 
strangers he is respectful and dignified, to his political op- 
ponents civil and polite. The striking trait of his person- 
al deportment is a plain and unostentatious manner, with 
a quiet dignity which commands the respect of all who ap- 
proach him. There is a naturalness about him which 
assures the beholder at once that there is nothing artifi- 
cial in his character. It is this which has secured for 
him that reputation for sincerity which he has ever had. 
Without being loquacious, he is fond of lively and intel- 
lectual conversation. Without being boisterous, and 
rarely indulging in hilarity, yet he is cheerful, and 
sometimes jocose. To those who object to him that he 
has not the artificial manners of a Chesterfield, he may 
well make the reply of Themistocles, who, being told 
that some complained of him as wanting in polish of 
manners, " 'Tis true," said the great Athenian, " I can- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 319 

not play the lute, but I know how to make niy native 
State great and powerful." Andrew Johnson may not 
know how to play the lute ; it is doubtful whether he 
knows how to dance scientifically ; but one thing is cer- 
tain : he knows something about how to preserve, re- 
adjust, and reorganize the free and republican institu- 
tions of his country when jarred and shaken by discord 
and faction. 

In size Mr. Johnson is of about the medium height, 
with a firmly-knit frame, indicating a capacity for great 
labor and physical endurance. His general appearance is 
youthful for one of his age. He might well pass for ten 
years younger than he is. He has a thick, full head of 
hair, formerly very black, now of a slight gray tinge. His 
eyes are black, keen, and penetrating, of a liquid ap- 
pearance, and of a rather serious expression. His com- 
plexion is a natural bronze. He has a finely-formed head 
and well-developed forehead, denoting the reasoning and 
inductive faculties to a very considerable extent. His most 
expressive features, perhaps, are his strong massive jaw and 
compressed lips, indicating, as they almost invariably do, 
force of will and decision of character. His step is firm 
and elastic. His general appearance and bearing are those 
of a man in the vigor of life. 

President Johnson has had five children, four of whom 
are still living. His eldest, a daughter named Martha, 
married Judge David T. Patterson, a gentleman of high 
character and fine legal attainments, residing in East Ten- 
nessee.* Mrs. Patterson, owing to Mrs. Johnson's indiffer- 
ent health, presides over the domestic arrangements of the 
" White House," and " does the honors" with that quiet 
ease and refinemement of manner which bespeak her the 

* For some years he was Judge of the Circuit Court, and is now one of 
the Senators elect to Congress from Tennessee. 



320 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

accomplished lady and hospitable and kind-hearted hostess 
to all who call. The President's second child, a son, Dr. 
Charles Johnson, was killed by a fall from his horse near 
Nashville in April, 1863, to the. great sorrow and distress 
of his afflicted parents. At the time of his death he held 
the position of surgeon of the Tenth Tennessee Infantry. 
Colonel Eobert Johnson, his third child, is living, and is 
said to be a man of ability and of promise in his profession 
as a lawyer. 

His fourth child, Mary, married Colonel Daniel Stover, 
who, during the late civil war, commanded the Fourth 
Tennessee Infantry. He died in Nashville, a refugee from 
his home, in December, 1864, of disease contracted in the 
service. His youngest child, a son, Andrew Johnson, Jr., 
is a lad born in 1852. 

President Johnson may be regarded as the representa- 
tive, the organ, the exponent of the feeling of a common 
interest and a common brotherhood between the two sec- 
tions, struggling against the adverse influences of the late 
desperate conflict. He is the impersonation of American 
civilization and American ideas, developing, combining, and 
exerting their moral and material influences in such way as 
to extort the respect of foreign Governments, and the admira- 
tion and attachment of the people, who love liberty regu- 
lated by law, in every clime. His name, and his charac- 
ter, and his status with posterity, are indissolubly con- 
nected with the mighty developments now in progress. 
His task is a difficult and perilous one. Although the 
main fury of the storm has subsided, still the heavings of 
the mighty deep are yet heard and felt. He cannot avoid 
his destiny, and, fortunately for his country and for him- 
self, he does not wish to avoid it. As is usually the case 
with historic characters, posterity will probably hold him 
responsible for the consequences to be developed from the 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 321 

present state of the country to an extent not warranted by 
strict and impartial justice. If he is to be held responsi- 
ble for the future, ought the necessary powers, to enable 
him to contend successfully with the difficulties before him, 
to be unwillingly or grudgingly conferred ? Not only the 
dictates of an enlarged patriotism, but the requirements of 
interest, both national and sectional, demand that the peo- 
ple of the country should yield to him their confidence 
and support. They should sustain him against suspicious 
doubts, and carping criticisms, and factious insinuations. 
In order to wield effectively the powers of American civili- 
zation (the author prefers to use this term of " American 
civilization," as contradistinguished and meaning some- 
thing different from " civilization" in its ordinary sense), 
President Johnson must be national in his feelings, in his 
means, and in his ends. If he is national, he can't be sec- 
tional. If he should be sectional, he will live in history 
not as the representative man of the moral grandeur, ma- 
terial power, and recuperative energy of American civili- 
zation, but as the impersonation of a faction. 

The author, in his historical reading, and his reflections 
on historical characters, has often dwelt on the character 
of Sylla. So far as intellect is concerned, he was unques- 
tionably one of the greatest geniuses that ever lived. His 
life was one uniform success over obstacles and difficulties 
rarely equalled. As a military commander, judging from 
what he accomplished and what were the difficulties to be 
overcome, it is doubtful whether he had a superior in the 
long annals of his country's military greatness. As an ad- 
ministrative officer he was equally successful. In his esti- 
mate of men his perception was unfailing and almost in- 
tuitive. At a glance he saw in Caesar, when a youth, the 
germs of his future greatness. He is said to have then re- 
marked of Csesar, " There are many Mariuses in that young 



322 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

man." And yet Sylla does not occupy in history, or in 
the estimate of succeeding generations, the position of one 
of the great representative men of Koman grandeur and 
power. He has not received from posterity that apotheo- 
sis awarded to many of his countrymen who were vastly 
his inferiors. Why is this ? It is not because he is re- 
garded as a bad man. It is true he drenched the streets 
of Kome in the blood of her citizens, and slaughtered his 
enemies without mercy. But it was at a period of mutual 
extermination by the factions. And Sylla is generally re- 
garded more in the light of a man who felt that the pres- 
sure of necessity required him to make " short work " of 
the Marian faction, than of a man naturally malicious or 
fond of blood. In fact, the general tenor of his life proved 
him to have been a man of kindly and generous character. 
He was not a man of morbid ambition, nor was he a tyrant 
by nature, for he abdicated the supreme power when he 
might have held it, retired to private life, and died in 
comparative obscurity. The reason why he does not oc- 
cupy a higher place in the estimation of posterity is this : 
He was the head of a faction. His position in the So- 
cial War was that of the representative and leader of the 
patrician against the plebeian order. If he had exhib- 
ited the same powers and performed the same exploits 
in behalf of the nationality of the people in sustaining 
their honor and glory, and in defending their interests, 
against either external or domestic foes, Sylla would 
have occupied as lofty a niche in the Pantheon of 
Koman greatness as any name in the history of that won- 
derful people, not excepting the great Julius himself. 

President Johnson needs no such warning as that con- 
veyed in the history of Sylla. That factions will arise from 
the disturbed elements of the times may well be expected. 
That these factions will endeavor to keep alive heart-burn- 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 323 

ings and animosities between sections, and classes, and 
interests, is equally certain; for strife is the element in 
which faction lives, the food on which it subsists. These 
factions will endeavor to use Mr. Johnson in the further- 
ance of their purposes, and, failing in this, they will make 
war on him, either open or secret. Fortunately for the 
country, he knows men well. His perception of human 
character is of no ordinary kind, and it will stand him in 
stead in the selection of those to whom he may intrust his 
confidence. His position before the country is so well 
defined as the representative of American nationality, and 
the embodiment of the political rights and moral power 
of the people, that the leaders of faction will have to en- 
counter his iron firmness of disposition, his great shrewd- 
ness in the appreciation of character, his well-known reli- 
ance on the masses of the people, and his nationality of 
patriotism, in their efforts to divert him from the path of 
duty. 

In using the term " American civilization " (a favorite 
one with the author) is not meant a mere progress in moral 
and intellectual improvement, according to its usual 
acceptation. A steady advancement in moral, intellectual, 
social, and material power, in such way as to elevate the 
great mass, the people, in the scale of virtue, prosperity, and 
happiness, is what is meant. We hear a great deal about 
the cultivation of science and art, and the high standard 
of civilization reached by the ancients. But when closely 
examined, it is found to be progress and cultivation by the 
few, regardless of the condition or fate of the masses. 
Egypt gave letters and science to many of the peoples of 
antiquity. But the learning of Egypt was confined to an 
organized priesthood, who vigilantly guarded its mysteries 
within an esoteric sanctuary, against intrusion from the 
great mass of the people, who were used as the mere instru- 



324: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

ments of despotism, and regarded as unfit for any thing 
but labor, which, was considered degrading. This is not 
the sort of civilization for America. The ancient Greeks 
attained to the highest perfection in science, art, and phi- 
losophy, of all the nations of antiquity. In fact, it is doubt- 
ful whether the human intellect has ever reached as high a 
point of development in any other age or country. But 
still it was the social law of Athens that an appreciation 
of the beautiful in art, and the achievements of the 
mind in science, were the proper pursuits of the contem- 
plative and reflective few, whilst toil and drudgery were 
the business of the common herd. Her earlier philosophers 
confined their researches and reflections mainly to natural 
phenomena, and the laws that govern the material world, 
as a mere discipline of the mind, and a means of private 
pleasure and enjoyment. The duty of utilizing their 
knowledge and discoveries, so as make them available to 
the common people in promoting their prosperity and en- 
joyment, seems not to have been a part of their system. 
Nor is this the sort of civilization suited to America. 

Eoman civilization was the embodiment of material 
power. This enabled them to conquer the world. The 
structure of their power abroad over the conquered world 
lasted long after the key-stone had tumbled from the arch 
of their citadel at home. But the elevation and prosperity 
of the masses of the people was not the stand-point of 
Roman civilization. Her government was a government 
of the patrician order. The tribuneship was extorted 
from the Senate by a revolutionary movement, but the 
same forms in the Government and the same social ideas 
continued to prevail. They were eminently oligarchic. 
The Senate granted the appointment of tribunes to the peo- 
ple, as a concession to a popular outbreak ; but the tribunate 
itself soon came to be an element in the system of obligarchy 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 325' 

which pervaded the social and political structure. It was 
the rarest thing for the behests of the " conscript Fathers " 
to be impeded by the interposition of the tribunes. The 
Government of Borne became great and powerful ; but it 
was a Government of Patricians. Her historical charac- 
ters, down to the time of the civil wars, were, in the main, 
of the Patrician order. The system of clientage, so satir- 
ized by her dramatists, shows how difficult it was for a 
Plebeian to reach social respectability, except by attaching 
himself to some man of position in the State. Nor is 
Roman civilization the civilization suited to America. 

English civilization is but little better adapted to the 
wants and requirements of the American people. The civ- 
ilization of the former seems to consist in making money — 
mere material wealth — the panecea for all political com- 
plaints ; and that true philosophy consists in trying to deceive 
oneself, as an antidote for the prickings of conscience. Brit • 
ish statesmanship can see nothing higher for the aspiration 
of the masses, than good wages, snug cottages, and the con- 
descending notice of the great occasionally, at the hustings, 
or at stated festivals. That, as to political affairs or govern- 
mental concerns, that is the business of the aristocracy, 
either of blood or wealth. That political morality consists in 
keeping fleets on the coast of Africa to suppress the slave- 
trade ; and at the same time importing coolies into her colo- 
nies, to undergo a bondage much more objectionable than 
that of African slavery. That political truth and consist- 
ency consist in contending that every people possessing a 
separate district, and historical nationality, should have the 
right to govern themselves by their own laws, and yet com- 
pelling Ireland and India to wear a yoke of bondage, not 
simply to live with them as equals, but to live under them as 
inferiors. That national honor and national propriety con- 
sisted, during the late four years' bloody war on this con- 



326 LIFE OF ANDKEW JOHNSON. 

tinent, in professing to both parties great regret at the 
continuation of the struggle, and at the same time en- 
couraging both to persevere. Great Britain supposed, like 
the ostrich, that she was concealing her designs by hiding 
her head, whilst every man on either side well understood 
that it was her purpose to encourage both to continue the 
struggle till both were exhausted, that she might advance 
her own interests and power by the ruin of others. 

French civilization is also out of place in America. In 
France, the Government is every thing, the people nothing. 
Their ideas of happiness and prosperity consist in a 
monopoly by France of the military glory of the age. 
That the people have nothing to do with the Government 
except to go through the forms of voting for those first 
selected by it. That the Government is discharging its 
functions, in jproviding for the entertainment and amuse- 
ment of the people ; and that the people are doing their 
duty in sustaining the Government in its aspirations for 
military glory. Alcibiades, in cutting off the tail of his 
favorite dog that the people of Athens might have some- 
thing to amuse themselves with, and to talk about, by way 
of withdrawing their attention from his peculations on the 
treasury — foreshadowed French civilization in its present 
operation and influence. " Let us eat and drink, for to- 
morrow we die " — seems to be the philosophy of life with 
that strange and wonderful people. 

German civilization is no better. There can be no 
active result-achieving civilization without patriotism. 
Without patriotism there is nothing to intensify effort — 
nothing to stimulate in the pursuit of some great national 
object. In Germany patriotism, after all, is a myth. The 
German writers are continually harping on " the Father- 
land.'' And yet, what does that mean ? With a Prus- 
sian, does it mean Prussia, or does it mean the Germanic 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 327 

Confederation % In the little principality of Keuss, does it 
mean the small territory contained within its limits, or 
does it mean something more? Patriotism is a very jeal- 
ous sentiment. It will not admit of any divided alle- 
giance. Whether it is owing to this want of a concen- 
trated and undivided patriotism growing out of the pecu- 
liar political arrangement of the Germanic Confederation, 
or whether it is owing to some peculiarity in the constitu- 
tion of German character, it is difficult to tell. The Ger- 
mans are probably the most intellectual people on the 
globe so far as mere mental power and research are con- 
cerned. And yet, so far as regards the practical applica- 
tion of mind to the development of the useful in promot- 
ing the comfort, well-being, and elevation of the masses, 
they are doing nothing. As a people they are stationary. 
They have no future — they have no great object to attain 
— no great mission to accomplish — no great status to pre- 
serve. Hence it is that the German mind is mainly di- 
rected to the investigation of the mysterious and the 
abstruse. The Germans are a nation of metaphysicians. 
Mental effort is with them employed in an investigation of 
the nature and properties of, and the relations between, 
mind and matter — in trying to unravel the tangled skein, 
at one end of which is Deity, and at the other is Man. 
Contemplation, without reference to any useful or practical 
end, seems to be the occupation of German mind and 
thought. This may, perhaps, operate as a sort of " escape- 
pipe " to mental activity, which, otherwise, under the fer- 
mentation of outward pressure, might vent itself in revo- 
lution and social disorder. But there is no progress in it 
— no advancement of human good. Compared with 
American civilization, it is like gazing at the heavenly 
bodies, reflecting upon their ages, their composition, and 
the purposes of Almighty wisdom in their creation, instead 



328 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

of measuring their distances, relations, and orbits for the 
purpose of applying the result to the practical uses of 
commerce, the measurement of time, and their influences 
on weather and the seasons. If the powerful intellects of 
her Leibnitzes, her Kants, and her Fichtes, and a host of 
others of the same class, had been devoted to the practical 
and the useful in advancing the material prosperity of 
man, instead of groping through the labyrinths of ideology, 
what might they not have effected, not only for Germany, 
but for the whole human family. 

The course of American civilization is direct and on- 
ward to the accomplishment of a mission which it has, 
under the dispensation of Providence, to fulfil. Its march 
is along a double road, with two tracks parallel and con- 
tiguous, one of material, the other of moral advancement. 
The emigrant-pioneers, who first came to these shores, if 
they had been guided by the standard of European civili- 
zation, at the end of half a century would not have been 
out of hearing of the surge of the ocean. Necessity, and 
the sense of duty superinduced by reflection, swept away 
the antiquated notions of the degradation of labor. The 
simple rearing of houses in which to live, and the clearing 
of fields from which to obtain food, taught them that labor 
had to go in the van of material improvement. The 
workshop went up side by side with the church, the school- 
house, and the court-house. Here, then, were the elements 
of American civilization. A free and untramelled relig- 
ious worship under the system of voluntary association ; a 
system of education for the sons and daughters of all in 
common, so as to develop, for the common good, the intel- 
lectual resources of the coming generation ; the preserva- 
tion in its purity of the common-law, that great inherit- 
ance from their Anglo-Saxon forefathers, which the latter 
had brought with them from the forests of Germany ; the 



LIFE OF ANDEEW JOHNSON. 329 

political equality of all men, based on the principle that 
man is capable of governing himself, and that the object 
of government is the good of the many as contradistin- 
guished from the few ; the redemption of a continent 
from the dominion of savage solitude, the levelling the 
forests, the scaling of mountains, the spanning of rivers, and 
the substitution for the roving savage of sixty or eighty 
millions of people, free, prosperous, and happy, in the en- 
joyment of liberty regulated by law, and of popular gov- 
ernment administered by themselves. This is American 
civilization. It has already swept across the Continent, 
and from the shores of the Pacific it is straining its eyes 
westward. If we could lift the curtain that conceals the 
future, might we not expect to see it still " with the star 
of empire westward taking its way," till it passed the isles 
of the seas through Japan, China, and over the Himelayas, 
reaching the cradle of man's existence and the scene of his 
redemption — and still travelling in the track, and with the 
impetuosity of the great Gothic exodus of the long gone- 
by ages, finally reaching, remodelling, and adapting to the 
wants of the age the dilapidated systems of European 
civilization ! 

Andrew Johnson is the impersonation and representa- 
tive of this American civilization. His name and his fame 
are identified with it. With him, so far as the past is con- 
cerned, all is secure. Let him go on and accomplish his 
high mission and fulfil his high destiny. The muse of his- 
tory will then crown him with the chaplet of fame she is 
now wreathing for his brow. She will then write him 
down as 

" One of the few, the immortal names, 
That were not born to die." 



CHAPTEK XXII. 

The Close of the War — An Article in the "London Quarterly Review" — 
Cause for Indignation at the Course of the British Government and Peo- 
ple—It Encouraged the South to Persist — It could have Stopped the 
War — Proposed Mediation of the Emperor of the French — Jealousy and 
Alarm of Great Britain at the Growing Power of the United States — 
Statements of the "Review" Examined — Its Fling at President John- 
son — Wishes and Hopes of the Reviewer. 

Since the author commenced the task in which he has 
been engaged, he has read in the " London Quarterly Ee- 
view " for July, 1865, an article headed, " The close of the 
American "War." This article, though written in good 
temper, and exhibiting a very accurate acquaintance with 
the events and incidents of the war, is thoroughly British in 
its character, in its reflections as to the present, and in 
its hopes as to the future. Under the guise of affected 
moderation and impartiality, it exhibits the same jealousy 
and apprehension of American greatness and power, that 
marked the course of the British Government and people 
during the continuance of the war. Under all its croaking 
about principle, and duty, and right, the reader can easily dis- 
cover that by these terms is meant what they invariably mean 
in the vocabulary of a British politician or pamphleteer, 
viz. : the promotion of British power and influence, and the 
control and monopoly by Great Britain of the commerce and 
finances of the globe. Whether viewed from a Northern, 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 331 

a Southern, or a national stand-point, the article alluded 
to is equally objectionable. It may be regarded as an expo- 
nent of the views and feelings of the tory party in Great 
Britain. At the same time it is a defence of the party in 
power (the Whigs) for their course during the war. 
Prom the general tone of the article, it sympathizes deep- 
ly with the South ; and yet, there is such an inconsistency 
between the views presented in regard to the merits of 
the struggle, and the course which the Government and 
people of Great Britain pursued, and which the article al- 
luded to now justifies, as plainly to prove that the sympa- 
thy for the South therein affected, is hollow-hearted and 
insincere. 

The people of both sections, North and South, have 
equal cause to feel indignant at the course of the British 
Government and people. Both sections understand it 
thoroughly, and both are likely to remember it, and pon- 
der on it for many years to come. From the commence- 
ment of the war and throughout its duration, the evident 
hope and design of the British Government and people 
was to intensify and fan the fires of the strife. The Brit- 
ish press, and the speeches of the British members of Par- 
liament, again and again reiterated the assertion that the 
South could not be conquered, that its independence was 
only a question of time. The ability of Southern generals 
and the prowess of Southern armies, were praised to the 
skies. The South was encouraged to persist in the strug- 
gle, was told that their cause was just and right. It was 
easy to tell from the tone of the British press, and the 
speeches of British orators, to which side fortune 
seemed to incline, in the course of the war. "When fortune 
favored the South in the fighting of battles, or the move- 
ments of armies, the press of England — with the " London 
Times " in the lead — would teem with praises of Southern 



332 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

valor, and predictions of Southern success. But they al- 
ways took care to wind up with the declaration that in no 
event could Great Britain interpose to arrest the shedding 
of blood, and frequently with the allusion that, in conse- 
quence of slavery in the South, they could not intervene 
toward building up a great power based on that institu- 
tion. All that was to keep the North up to the work of 
putting down the disunion movement, under the assurance 
that they had nothing to fear or apprehend from British 
aid or interference in favor of the South. On the other 
hand, whenever the prospects of the South looked dark and 
gloomy, whenever Southern armies lost any great battle or 
any important strategic point, these same presses and 
orators told the South to hold on and fight to the last, 
that their subjugation was impossible ; that a wonderful 
reaction in their favor was going on in the minds of the 
British people. And on such occasions, it invariably hap- 
pened that letters aifecting to be from those who had ac- 
cess behind the scenes, found their way sometimes from 
Paris to London, sometimes from both those places to this 
country, assuring the people of the South that diplomatic 
movements were going on, looking to recognition or in- 
tervention in their favor. Southern men in England were 
assured by the people of that country, that perseverance in 
the contest would surely result in ultimately bringing the 
British Government to the rescue. It was in one of these 
dark and despondent periods for the South that Earl Bus- 
sell described the war as " a struggle for independence on 
the one side, and for empire on the other." All this was 
for the purpose of keeping the South well up to its work 
of fighting and contending to the last. 

The British Government could have stopped the war, 
and brought about a friendly adjustment of our difficulties, 
if it had wished to do so. It will hardly be denied that 



LIFE OP ANDREW JOHNSON. 333 

national pride had much to do in preventing propositions 
for an amicable arrangement coming from one side or the 
other. A kind and friendly offer on the part of any great 
nation to interpose in procuring a peaceful settlement of our 
troubles, would no doubt have been received in a proper 
spirit by both parties. Each would, at least, have been 
willing to hear what such friendly power had to say. 
But an amicable and peaceful arrangement was just the 
very thing Great Britain did not want. That she desired 
a separation of the two sections, and the independence of 
the South, there is no doubt ; but while intriguing for this 
secretly, she had not the manliness to avow it. If she was 
sincere in wishing to arrest the flow of blood and in her 
pretended opposition to a government based on slavery, 
why did she not interpose in favor of a friendly reconstruc- 
tion of the Union ? She knew that in making such a prop- 
osition, she had nothing to fear from the resentment of 
the South. It was because she knew that such restoration 
would only strengthen and consolidate the power of the 
American Union, of which she is so jealous. If she 
thought that the South was in the right — that it deserved 
independence, that it must ultimately succeed, as insisted 
on by the British press and British orators, why did she 
not, from feelings of humanity, and as the pretended friend 
of both parties, interpose and intercede with the North to 
grant Southern independence? Because she knew that 
such a course would anger and offend the Government of 
the United States. 

At one time the Emperor of the French proposed to 
Great Britain to unite with him in a joint mediation be- 
tween the North and the South. The Emperor explained 
his purpose to be nothing more than a friendly offer on the 
part of the two powers to harmonize and reconcile differ- 
ences without any wish or purpose to dictate terms to 



334: LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

either. Knowing, as both Governments did, the temper 
and determination of the Government of the United 
States, they both understood by the proposed mediation 
the preserving the integrity of the Union-. But that was 
what Great Britain wished never to see again. If she had 
even stood by perfectly neutral, and looked on with calm and 
stoical indifference, it would have proven her to be callous 
to all the appeals of humanity, and destitute of sympathy 
for suffering man, when by kind interposition she might 
have ended the struggle. But, instead of looking on with 
heartless unconcern, she gloated over the common dis- 
tresses and sacrifices of both parties, and encouraged the 
one party or the other to persist as she thought she saw 
signs of nagging in either. Her course proves that she 
hates the Government and people of the United States at 
the same time that she fears them. She was willing 
enough to see vessels of war built in her ports for the use 
of the " Southern Confederacy," and munitions of war 
supplied to it to any extent, as long as she could use the 
pretext of laying the blame on her private citizens and her 
municipal laws. She even connived at it as long as she 
could covertly do so. But she did not dare to protect her 
own citizens or to sustain her own laws when the United 
States Government gave her to understand that it would 
not be tolerated. 

Great Britain has long looked on the growing power of 
the United States with jealousy and alarm. She is appre- 
hensive lest the spread and influence of the principles of 
our free institutions may undermine the monarchical and 
aristocratic foundations of her political fabric. She is 
jealous of the North on account of its great commercial 
power and wealth, which threaten to supplant Iter in the 
markets of the world. She is annoyed by being dependent 
on the South for cotton. Whilst railing against Southern 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 335 

slavery she is encouraging a far worse system of slavery 
than ever prevailed in the South, by oppressing the Ryots 
in India and enticing coolies to her West India possessions. 
Her hypocrisy on this subject is enough to disgust the na- 
tions of the earth. If Great Britain had acted a noble, 
manly, high-toned, and Christian part in this struggle be- 
tween the North and the South, she would forever have 
had the gratitude of both sections, and for all time would 
have had a fast friend in the United States. When she saw 
blood flowing in torrents, the fairest portions of the earth 
devastated, ravaged, and ruined, and sorrow and distress 
pervading the land, if she had been actuated by an elevat- 
ed philanthropy and had offered her friendly mediation, 
not for the purpose of destruction but of preservation, not 
for the purpose of widening the breach but of healing it, 
what a blessing might she not have conferred, what suffer- 
ing might she not have prevented ? Nay, more : what an 
immense advantage might she not have secured to herself? 
To the North she would have saved hundreds of thousands 
of lives and thousands of millions of debt incurred. To 
the South she would have saved not only the same, but the 
devastation of their country and the humiliation of subju- 
gation. 

Great Britain has, by her selfishness, her heartlessness, 
and her Jesuitical hypocrisy, struck herself a blow from 
which she will reel and stagger for many a year to come. 
She has not only fastened on her manufactures exported to 
this country a high tariff, that will not be diminished, but 
under the impulse this will give to manufactures in this 
country, she may look out to find us competing with her in 
every market in the world. Instead of weakening her 
great rival by her attempts at dismemberment, she has 
made that rival far stronger and more powerful than ever. 
She may, possibly, by a change in our Constitution, which 



336 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

prohibits the imposition of any export duty, or through 
the machinery of an excise law, find herself compelled to 
pay five or six cents a pound for cotton grown in this 
country more than our Northern manufacturers will have 
to pay for it. But above all, she has lost more than in all 
else in the kindly feelings and respectful consideration en- 
tertained by the people of the United States for the British 
Government and the British people. She has been instru- 
mental in converting the United States into a great mili- 
tary and naval power, which never dreamed of its own 
resources before. Our facility for raising and maintaining 
armies would enable us to drive British power out of 
Canada in sixty days. Our immense navy, improvised by 
the war, enables this Government to meet Great Britain 
not only on distant seas, but to sweep the British and the 
Irish channels whenever we feel disposed to do so. 

The foregoing reflections have been superinduced by 
reading the article referred to in the " London Quarterly 
Review." 

In the article alluded to, the author finds great fault 
with the Government of the United States because its 
object in prosecuting the war was not to destroy slavery 
but to save the Union. Absurdity and inconsistency are 
constantly urged against Mr. Lincoln and the action of the 
Government, because they set out with the avowal that 
their object was not to interfere with slavery in the States. 
The reviewer says : 

" It is, however, on record, to show the readiness of the Fed- 
eral Congress to debar itself forever from any pretence to interfere 
with slavery in the States, and this whilst persons in this country 
were loudly asserting that it was to destroy slavery that the war 
was waged." 

Again, speaking of President Lincoln's emancipation 
proclamation, the reviewer says ; 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 337 

" As a matter of moral principle, nothing could be more incon- 
sistent, for it prohibited the sin to the enemy and permitted it to 
the ally. It made right and wrong a matter of geographical con- 
venience; for certain counties in Louisiana were to retain the 
system, whilst the rest were denied it : and more than this, it re- 
tained slavery where there was power to end it ; and it pretended 
to sweep it away where there was no power to touch it." 

Oh, yes ! If the war had been waged expressly to 
destroy slavery in the outset, and it had thus been destroy- 
ed, all would have been right and proper ! Great Britain 
would thus, in the opinion of the writer, have been no 
longer dependent on America for cotton, and the cotton 
manufacturers of America themselves would have to rely 
for a supply of the raw material elsewhere than on the 
Southern States. His great regard for the rights of the 
States, about which he discourses as flippantly as any fire- 
eater when it suits his purposes, disappears when the de- 
struction of slavery is involved. With an Englishman the 
destruction of slavery means the destruction of the cotton- 
growing interest in the United States. What the writer 
designed as a censure of the Government of the United 
States is, in fact, the best defence of it. The object origin- 
ally was not to interfere with slavery as it existed in 
the States. It was only as that necessity was devel- 
oped during the prosecution of the war, that the Govern- 
ment felt bound to strike at the institution. It was done 
not from a fixed purpose in the outset, but only as a 
means of weakening the power and resources of the insur- 
gent States. The writer, in speaking of the way in which 
the war was conducted, says : 

" There was an entire absence of fixed principle or persistent 
action ; nothing but getting along with the affairs of the day — 
now yielding to the pressure on this side, and now on the other ; 
adopting no great principle without reversing it, etc., etc." 
15 



338 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Yes, the Government had to adapt its action to the 
emergencies of the occasion ; there was no precedent to 
govern under circumstances never contemplated by the 
founders of our institutions. Bui, after all, the course 
pursued resulted in success. One would suppose that as 
slavery was finally overthrown the writer would have been 
content. But then, the Union was preserved — the national 
life was saved — the Government was made stronger, more 
compacted, the better able to teach other nations their duty 
whenever they shall attempt to invade our rights. There 
is where the shoe pinches. The writer of the article says : 

" No wax of modern times has been urged in a spirit so bitter, 
so unsparing, so ungenerous. The sinking of stone-fleets, to 
destroy harbors, the bombarding of dwelling houses with Greek 
fire, the cutting of levees to inundate great districts and drown 
out the inhabitants, the shooting of prisoners on more than one 
occasion in cold blood, the official insulting of women and of clergy- 
men, the avowed attempts to destroy by famine, the burning of 
mills, farm-houses, barns, the plunder of private property — these, 
apart from incidents of individual outrage, which ever accompany 
invading armies, have made memorable the names of Butler, 
Turchin, Pope, Sheridan, Blenker, Hunter, Milroy, McNeill, as a 
band of Generals, of all human beings, the least fitted to restore a 
fraternal Union." 

Aye, and did Great Britain, with all her proud boast- 
ing of being at the head of civilization, stand quietly by 
with folded arms, and look on these horrible outrages on 
humanity, and not lift a finger to prevent them ? When 
the Emperor of the French proposed to the Government of 
Great Britain a joint mediation for the purpose of pro- 
curing an amicable adjustment of the difficulties between 
the North and the South, why did the latter decline if her 
sensibilities were so shocked at the barbarities this writer 
speaks of? Was she afraid of offending the North ? The 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 339 

writer will hardly admit that. Was she doubtful about 
the success of an attempt by mediation to heal the strife 
of the contending parties? As no harm could have 
resulted, ought not the effort to have been made from 
sheer feelings of humanity, if the people of England really 
believed that these atrocities were being perpetrated on 
the people of the South ? This very writer, who assumes 
that these savage barbarities were being practised, yet 
defends and justifies his Government for holding back and 
making no effort for peace. He justifies this non-mediation 
on account of the existence of slavery in the South. He says : 

" Slavery was doubtless the real cause, why the independence 
of the South was not recognized by the European Powers, when 
the great effort of the North for the capture of Richmond, made 
after ample preparation, and in enormous force, ended in utter 
failure." " Recognition would have been warranted by the facts, 
and by the precedent most closely in point, the separation of 
Belgium from its union with Holland. The step was dictated, so 
far as this country (Great Britain) is concerned, by the most 
obvious considerations of self-interest. But it was thought by 
those with whom the decision rested, that until forced to it by 
circumstances, our Government ought, on principle, to abstain from 
action. It was not permitted to weigh political advantage against 
what seemed to be a moral obligation. Few in America are likely 
to understand this." 

The writer is mistaken. Everybody in America under- 
stands it thoroughly. What does he mean by " the most 
obvious considerations of self-interest," what by the " politi- 
cal advantage " he speaks of ? What can he mean, but a 
disruption of the American Union, and a consequent weak- 
ening of American power and influence ? That was the 
" principle " on which the British Government " abstained 
from action." He admits that from the " facts " and from 
the " precedent of Belgium," recognition even, would have 



340 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

been warranted. Then, according to this writer, by the 
laws of nations, the " Southern Confederacy " should have 
been recognized. And yet he prates about the " moral 
obligation " to abstain from action. What higher moral 
obligation rests on any Power that claims to lead in the 
van of civilization, than to boldly step forward and vindi- 
cate the laws of nations, where the facts and a precedent 
directly in point warranted it 1 But the difficulty lay in 
slavery ! Ah, indeed ! when before has it been avowed 
that one country observed toward another its objections 
under the laws of nations according to its approval or dis- 
approval of the internal domestic institutions of the latter % 
Why did not Protestant Britain object to the Roman 
Catholicism of Belgium % Why did not highly civilized 
England and France object to polygamy and harem-slavery 
in Turkey, when they went to war with Russia in order to 
preserve the national integrity of the Sultan's dominions ? 
Where was the writer's regard for " principle " and for 
" moral obligation " then % 

The views of the writer in the " London Quarterly " 
are not objected to on the ground that Great Britain 
should have recognized the " Southern Confederacy ; " but 
it is from his own stand-point that his argument is here 
exposed. On " principle " and on " moral obligation," 
Great Britain could not recognize a people who tolerated 
slavery ! And yet she was perfectly justifiable in aiding 
and encouraging the insurgent States by selling to them 
munitions of war — in winking at the building of vessels-of- 
war for them in the dock-yards, as long as it could be done 
clandestinely — in encouraging them by their presses and 
orators (those in the cabinet as well as those out of it) to 
persevere, to fight on, that their cause was just, that theirs 
was the cause of independence against empire, and that 
they must ultimately succeed. England could not recog- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 34:1 

nize the South because of slavery ! Principle and moral 
obligation forbade it, although according to the laws of 
nations the South was entitled to recognition. Did prin- 
ciple and moral obligation forbid her proposing a friendly 
mediation, with a view of ending the strife, and of arrest- 
ing those cruelties, outrages, and barbarities on the part 
of the North that this writer speaks of? She knew that 
such friendly mediation would probably end in putting a 
stop to these very horrible outrages the writer speaks of — 
the very thing she did not wish to see. The combatants 
were not sufficiently exhausted. Like the fox in the fable, 
watching the lion and the tiger at fight, Great Britain 
looked on with chuckling delight, that she might carry off 
the spoil when both were overcome by the contest. 

With all his Jeremiads over the sufferings and wrongs 
of the South, the writer in the " London Quarterly " may 
rest assured that the people of both sections understand 
this matter thoroughly. And it is hard to tell which sec- 
tion, North or South, feels most indignant at the misera- 
bly selfish and hypocritical conduct of the British Govern- 
ment. If the British Government had from the first acted 
a candid, manly, and ingenuous part ; if she had frankly 
told Mr. Mason from the first that, owing to slavery or 
any other cause, she could not from principle and moral 
obligation recognize the South, instead of " pattering with 
him in a double sense ; " if she had promptly issued her 
proclamation declaring that she would not allow vessels-of- 
war to be built in her ports and dock-yards, intended for 
the Southern Confederacy, and warned her people against 
supplying the Southern States with munitions for the 
waging of war against a friendly power, instead of covert- 
ly winking at it ; if her presses and orators had fairly and 
honestly told the people of the South that they had noth- 
ing to expect from the British Government or the British 



342 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

people, instead of nattering, cajoling, and deceiving them 
with the hope of recognition or intervention, the South 
would not have persisted beyond .the second campaign. 
But, up to the very last, the delusion was cherished by the 
South that Great Britain would interpose in her favor. 
During the war, there is no doubt but great barbarities 
and excesses were perpetrated on both sides, and Great 
Britain is mainly responsible for it. The Southern people 
had tired of the war two years before its close. They 
would have been glad of any decent pretext to have 
stopped it. Having blundered into a difficulty through 
the intrigues and conspiracy of a comparatively few 
wicked men, nothing but an unwillingness, through a false 
and stubborn pride, to make the proposition of a reconcili- 
ation on the basis of reconstruction, caused them to perse- 
vere in a hopeless contest. A proffer of friendly media- 
tion on the part of Great Britain would have removed this 
objection of wounded pride, and peace might have been 
secured, and those atrocities on the part of the North, 
which the writer bemoans, been arrested. The North 
and the South both feel equally aggrieved by the course of 
Great Britain. If a war were to be waged against that 
Power by the American Government, even to compel her 
to make compensation for Northern commerce destroyed 
by the ships of the " Confederate " government that were 
built and fitted out in Britain, the men of the South would 
feel that they had wrongs to avenge equal to those of the 
North. 

But the writer in question must needs have a fling at 
President Johnson. This is not to be wondered at. The 
" London Quarterly," which the writer selects, as the me- 
dium of his lucubrations, is the recognized organ of the 
aristocratical, divine-right-of-kings party in Great Britain. 
Neither it nor its contributors can possibly understand how 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 343 

it is that a man of humble birth, of plebeian origin, of little 
wealth, of non-collegiate education, should be elevated to 
the highest office in the gift of thirty million people. 
With him and his co-workers of the " London Quarterly," 
it staggers all belief that such a man can ever be any thing 
but a low and vulgar fellow. That he ever should reach 
an eminence where he is the equal in social position of 
dukes, earls, and lords, is monstrous, no doubt, in their es- 
timation. Let them understand that the very object and 
natural result of our free republican institutions is to ele- 
vate merit, and talent, and usefulness, from obscurity and 
poverty, and make them conducive to the public good. 
According to the political ethics of our institutions — 

" Worth makes the man, want of it the fellow." 

In speaking of the sad fate of Mr. Lincoln, this writer 
says : 

" That calamity is greatly increased by calling to his place one 
even less fitted for it by education or knowledge, and without 
the redeeming personal qualities of his predecessor. That Mr. 
Johnson is a man of considerable natural ability we cannot doubt ; 
for without it no man could have worked his way from the con- 
dition of a journeyman tailor to the position he held at the out- 
break of the war. But there are many kinds of ability, and there 
is one kind which has been usually regarded in the North as by 
no means beneficial to the country — that of the professional poli- 
tician ; the man who adopts politics as a trade to live by and 
thrive by. Such was the occupation of Mr. Johnson, and it was 
successful under these circumstances." 

Here is a set of jingling sentences, thrown together 
without consistency, without reason, without justice, with- 
out truth. The writer havino; first come to the cletermi- 
nation to write down President Johnson as without worth 
or fitness for his station, has assumed facts, and resorted to 
arguments necessary to sustain his " foregone conclusion." 



34:4 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

He admits Mr. Johnson's " natural ability." If he has 
the natural ability, and if he possesses high moral charac- 
ter and unexceptionable personal qualities, what is there 
strange or wonderful that he should have deen honored 
and promoted as he has been % And as to the latter — 
moral and private worth — his character is without stain or 
reproach. It has never been assailed by his enemies even 
in the times of highest party excitement. " But," says the 
writer, " there are many kinds of ability," and Mr. John- 
son's ability is " that of a professional politician." It is 
really difficult to understand what the writer means by 
this term " professional politician." How can any man 
reach eminence in any pursuit or calling, unless it be the 
chief occupation and business of his life ? "When a pru- 
dent man wants to get his rights in a court of justice, he 
employs a professional lawyer. When suffering from ill- 
ness, he sends for a professional physician. "When a nation 
is to be defended, it calls for the professional soldier. 
"When a people intrust the guardianship of their rights to 
an agent of their choice, if they are wise they select a pro- 
fessional statesman. A statesman cannot be improvised 
for the occasion, any more than a poet can be. It requires 
the experience and training of a lifetime to make a states- 
man. And in all free countries this training can only be 
attained by a long mingling and thorough acquaintance 
with political affairs. It is so in Britain. Are not Pal- 
merston, and Bussell, and Derby, and Gladstone, " profes- 
sional politicians" ? Is not the confidence which their re- 
spective followers repose in them, based on the knowledge 
and experience acquired by their lifetime devotion to po- 
litical affairs ? Look at some of the great men of our own 
country, whose fitness and capacity this writer will hardly 
question. "Were not Clay and "Webster professional poli- 
ticians ? They devoted their lives to politics. Both were 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 345 

of humble and obscure parentage, as well as Andrew John- 
son. Both were thrown on the world poor and friendless 
like him. Look at Fillmore. He was a poor, uneducated 
boy, bound to a mechanical pursuit in early life. He 
reached the same elevated position now held by Andrew 
Johnson. He was a professional politician. Does the 
writer think he reached the Presidency through the " ex- 
treme prejudice and narrow education " of his constituents % 
If the writer means by " professional politician " one who 
"adopts politics as a trade to live and thrive by," then he is 
simply ignorant of the true state of affairs in this country. 
Of such men as those mentioned, who devote their lives to 
politics as a profession, nine-tenths of them die poor. But 
few of our retiring Presidents have saved a competency 
for their old age. True, there are a set of trading politi- 
cians in our country who do "live and thrive by" politics. 
But these men are rarely in the legislative councils. Gen- 
erally, they hold no positions of responsibility to the con- 
stituent body. They are the men who work the wires and 
manoeuvre the appliances of party machinery, who hunt 
around for jobs and contracts, who have a keen scent for 
hunting out the local offices out of which money can be 
made; who cluster around Washington, hunting up spuri- 
ous claims, and trading off their penny-a-lining talents to 
those who will pay them best. But this is the very class 
of men who never found any favor at the hands of 
President Johnson. If the writer in the " London Quar- 
terly " will read his speeches in Congress, he will find that 
Andrew Johnson has again and again held up this class of 
trading politicians to public reprobation. He has de- 
nounced them as "vampires," as "vultures gathering to- 
gether over the carcass," etc. This class of men are the 
last to expect any favor or countenance from President 
Johnson. 



346 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

In order to strike President Johnson, the writer in 
question must stigmatize his constituents, the people of 
Tennessee, who have so often and so long honored and sus- 
tained him. He says : 

" Tennessee, one of the younger States, contains a very mixed 
population, and a great proportion of small farmers, who are 
usually men of extreme prejudice and narrow education. These, 
from their numher, could always swamp the educated classes ; and 
with such a constituency, no man was more likely to succeed than 
Andrew Johnson. "With the energy necessary to go through the 
work, views, and habits suited to their own, and unlimited com- 
mand of words, he gradually attained all the honors and emolu- 
ments their votes could confer. He was an ardent defender of 
slavery, and a slave-owner himself to the extent of his means," etc. 

The writer is entirely ignorant on the subject upon 
which he is attempting to inform others. Tennessee is 
not one of the younger States. She is older than this cen- 
tury. She is regarded as one of the old States. Her 
population, so far from being a " very mixed one," is as 
homogeneous as that of any State in the Union. So far 
from being a new State, filling up with pioneer adventur- 
ers, she has long been furnishing emigrants for the more 
distant West and Southwest. So far as East Tennessee 
is concerned, it is admitted that there is " a great propor- 
tion of small farmers." But if this writer will visit 
America, and especially the mountain region of East Ten- 
nessee, he will find that those sections where this great 
proportion of small farmers prevails, and where the soil is 
fertile and the country healthy, contain the best populations 
on the continent. There is not probably any portion of 
America containing a more substantial, hardy, industrious, 
enterprising, and thrifty population than East Tennessee. 
True, there are not very many men of large fortunes there ; 
but the great mass of the population are well to do, and 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 347 

live in great comfort and plenty. Real poverty is but 
little known there, or was not before the war. In that 
portion of the State the population is not mixed at all. 
They are the descendants of the settlers of ante-Eevolu- 
tionary times. Like all mountain people, they are devoted 
to liberty, and very jealous of their rights. To have been 
so often honored and promoted by such a people — as Presi- 
dent Johnson has been — is the highest evidence of his 
ability and worth — the highest compliment that could be 
paid to him. The same high character may, in a great 
degree, be awarded to the people of Tennessee general- 
ly. Tennessee is proverbial for the political intelligence 
of her people, and the great number of prominent and 
able men she has produced, more especially those noted 
and celebrated for their powers of popular eloquence. 
Mr. Johnson has met the ablest of them on many hard- 
fought fields, and uniformly he has been sustained. The 
writer says further of President Johnson : 

" What judgment is to be formed by the speeches he has made 
so frequently since his elevation ? They ring the changes on three 
notes — first, the boast of being a plebeian ; secondly, the maledic- 
tion of all traitors ; thirdly, the disparagement of mercy. Was 
ever such a creed presented to the world ? We have sought in 
vain for one noble sentiment, for one generous emotion, for the 
faintest trace of a recollection that ho ruled over the sons of reb- 
els, that bis own position was the fruit of rebellion, that the first 
and great President he had to follow bad been a traitor. When 
it was the business of the statesman to pour oil on the troubled 
waters, the cry is for vengeance, confiscation, blood." 

Yery prettily written, but all mere assertion, without 
proof. What "speeches made so frequently since his 
elevation " does the writer refer to % This is a covert in- 
sinuation that President Johnson has a prurient fondness 
for speech-making display of himself. When or where has 



348 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

he made any speech that he could with decency and polite- 
ness have avoided making ? It has been the custom, from 
the origin of the Government, for the Yice-President, on 
his inauguration, to make a short address. When respect- 
able delegations from entire States call on him, and offer 
their congratulations in a formal address, how can he with- 
out rudeness fail to respond ? When the people in large 
numbers call to do him honor, how can he refrain from ac- 
knowledging their kind respect for him ? He has sought 
no occasion to make a speech, and has spoken only where 
politeness and a due appreciation of respect tendered him, 
required it. But he " boasts of being a plebeian " ! The 
writer is mistaken. He does not toast of it. He has spo- 
ken of the fact, and hard run must be the writer for ob- 
jections, when he has to resort to such as this. Is it at all 
remarkable that, considering his untoward prospects in 
early life, the difficulties he had to contend with, owing 
to his poverty, his want of education and patronizing 
friends, his toils and labors in providing for a growing 
family, his final triumph over all obstacles, his regular pro- 
motion from a commissioner of the village of Green eville 
to the Yice-Presidency, and then to the Presidency of the 
United States, is it at all remarkable that he should feel 
pride and exultation at having reached the pinnacle of 
honor and of station ? In alluding to his plebeian origin, 
he did it not so much by way of glorifying himself, as of 
glorifying his country and institutions, which had placed 
him where he was, not because of his being a plebeian, but 
in despite of it. Even if he had boasted of it (which he 
did not), a generous heart would have excused it under the 
circumstances as a pardonable foible — much more pardon- 
able than if he had been ashamed of it. For whom has 
the sensible reader most respect — for honest Old Rapid, in 
the play, who never could forget his early occupation, or 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOIINSON. 349 

for Young Rapid, whose constant appeal to his father after 
he had acquired great riches and high social position, was, 
" Sink the tailor dad, sink the tailor." 

But the writer says he has sought in Mr. Johnson's 
speeches " in vain for one noble sentiment, for one gener- 
ous emotion ; " that his cry is " for vengeance, confisca- 
tion, blood." Now, it must be recollected that these 
speeches to which the writer alludes were delivered di- 
rectly upon the occurrence of Mr. Lincoln's assassination. 
It was at a time when the passions, and resentments, and 
indignation of the people were wrought up to the highest 
pitch of intensity. Mr. Johnson never claimed, nor did 
his friends claim it for him, that he was more than man ; 
that he was entirely free from the impulses and feelings of 
human nature. Mr. Lincoln was a great favorite of the 
Northern people, loved and respected by them. At the 
very moment when they were rejoicing at the consumma- 
tion of the war and the return of peace, he (Mr. Lincoln) 
was struck down by an assassin. Who does not wonder 
that excitement did not go higher than it did ; that retalia- 
tion was not instantly visited upon thousands, and blood 
flow in torrents, under the impression of the moment that 
the deed might have ~been instigated by the Confederate 
rulers at Richmond ? No such charge is intimated or 
countenanced by the author ; he is only speaking of the 
elements of excitement and passion then prevailing, which 
maddened the public mind. It was during this period of 
excitement that these speeches were made to which the 
writer in the " London Quarterly " refers. But never did 
he speak of wholesale vengeance, confiscation, and blood. 
Both before and after, and during the war, he always spoke 
of the attempt at disunion as a conspiracy on the part of 
a few, and expressed his sympathy and compassion for the 
masses who had been deluded and misled. He expressed 



350 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

the opinion (and even then under the exciting circum- 
stances mentioned) that some examples should be made of 
the leaders, as a warning for others in after-times. Sup- 
pose, immediately on the suppression of the last outbreak 
in Ireland, the monarch or the prime minister of Great 
Britain had been assassinated in Drury Lane Theatre in 
London, the assassin using language at the time to indi- 
cate that his object was to avenge Ireland ; would any 
English minister, in making a speech in the midst of the 
excitement, not have been likely to throw out intimations 
of vengeance and blood ? And would not some of the 
leaders of the Irish rebellion have been more likely to go 
toward the gibbet than toward Botany Bay % 

A public man is to be judged of more by his acts and 
deeds than by his speeches made under circumstances of ex- 
citement almost sufficient to unhinge the judgment for the 
time. So far as acts go, there is no vengeance, no confisca- 
tion, and no blood, except in the case of the murderers of Mr. 
Lincoln. Mr. Johnson is now actively engaged in pouring 
oil on the troubled waters. All the preliminary move- 
ments toward restoring the insurgent States to their origi- 
nal positions in the Union, with all their former rights, are 
in progress. Mr. Johnson has already encountered oppo- 
sition which threatens to become formidable on the ground 
of his feelings of leniency toward the people of the South. 
Considering the circumstances, he is proving himself to 
be a man of great generosity, forbearance, and forgive- 
ness. If the writer in the " London Quarterly " knew the 
trials and hardships, the oppressions and persecutions, Mr. 
Johnson had encountered because of his devotion to the 
Union, he might perhaps make some allowance for any 
ebullition of feeling he may have exhibited. He was de- 
nounced as a traitor, pursued like a felon, his property 
confiscated, his wife turned out of doors, his house converted 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 351 

into barracks, his son-in-law imprisoned, another a refugee 
in the mountains, himself insulted and threatened with 
Lynch-law, and his very name bandied throughout the 
South as the synonym of villany, treason, and infamy. 
And yet, when under the stem law of necessity he becomes 
invested with powers dictatorial in their character, not a 
drop has he shed. The delight which he evinces at the 
returning loyalty of the Southern people, and the prospect of 
a speedy restoration of the Union, and harmony between the 
two sections, instead of showing him to be a bloodthirsty 
tyrant, proves that he has the paternal feelings of a public 
benefactor for the errors and delusions of a misguided peo- 
ple. But the writer has " sought in vain for one noble 
sentiment, for one generous emotion." The writer is re- 
ferred to President Johnson's reply to the British minister, 
Sir Frederick Bruce, on presenting his credentials. It is 
to be found in this volume. As a specimen of line Eng- 
lish composition, for elevated national sentiment, for good 
taste and appropriateness to the occasion, it cannot be ex- 
celled. President Johnson knew what good taste, nation- 
al politeness, and the propriety of the ceremony required. 
But lest the writer in the "London Quarterly" may sup- 
pose that Mr. Johnson has forgotten the course of Great 
Britain during the war, he is also referred to the following 
extract from a speech delivered by him to a collection of 
his own countrymen but a short time before, on the occa- 
sion of the announcement in Washington of General Lee's 
surrender : 

" The hour will come when those nations that exhibited tow- 
ard us such insolence and improper interference in the midst of 
our adversity, and as they supposed of our weakness, will learn 
that this is a Government of the people, possessing power enough 
to make itself felt and respected." 

But the writer in the " London Quarterly," in the con- 



352 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

elusion of the article in question, exposes his feelings, his 
wishes, and his hopes — as the postscript to a lady's letter 
does the thoughts uppermost in the writer's mind. He 
says: 

"However different may be the popular feeling of the day, we 
regard the extent of the Union as a cause that must he fatal, in the 
end, to the Confederation." 

"It is difficult to see how a Union that was not expected to 
hold good over a homogeneous part, is more likely to endure over 
a combination of discordant elements." 

" This is the first civil war of the race on that continent. It 
would be difficult to find an instance of a republic whose first civil 
war was its last. But the terrible cost of this struggle will long be 
remembered ; and with such experience, if it should prove that any 
large section of the American people again desire to exercise Mr. 
Lincoln's l most valuable and most sacred right ' — that of possess- 
ing a government of their own — we trust the spectacle will be 
exhibited which Mr. Seward once described — that of a great 
people rearranging its Government to common advantage, 
peacefully, and with the approval of the world." 

Oh, yes ! division, disruption, disintegration of the 
American Union, still dance before the mental vision of 
the writer. Let him not roll any such sweet morsel under 
his tongue. The bonds which hold this Union together 
are tenfold stronger than ever. The process of rearrange- 
ment and reconstruction, toward which President Johnson 
is bending the energies of his strong mind and energetic 
character, is progressing successfully and harmoniously. 
This reconstruction will replace the Union on the most 
sure and lasting foundations. Our institutions have proven 
themselves as possessing the element of adaptation to cir- 
cumstances in an eminent degree. They may be bent, in 
order to fit the exigencies of historical development, but 
they cannot be broken. The natural reaction or rebound 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 353 

will adjust them to the very shape and direction designed 
by their founders. Our own people have just been aroused 
to an appreciation of the power and resources of our Gov- 
ernment. The limits of the Union are much more likely to 
be extended, than to be curtailed. The " manifest destiny " 
the writer in question flouts at, is no myth. There is a deep 
philosophy in it. It means that great moral causes are 
just as sure "and unchangeable in their influence and prog- 
ress as are those of the physical world. It means that 
American ideas, liberty, law, and civilization, cannot be 
arrested in their march by mountains, rivers, and lakes — by 
piles of granite or frowning battlements. Mr. Monroe, 
with almost prophetic foresight, prefigured it, when he 
significantly intimated many years since that the climate 
and soil of America were not adapted to the growth of 
monarchical institutions or the prevalence of monarchical 
ideas. The American Union having withstood the external 
pressure of foreign wars, and the conflict of foreign ideas, 
and having now withstood and surmounted the internal pres- 
sure of domestic violence, will henceforth march forward re- 
freshed and reinvigorated on the accomplishment of its great 
mission. Poorly as the writer in the " London Quarterly " 
may affect to think of President Johnson, yet he and those 
of his co-laborers who are chafing with disappointment that 
they could neither disrupt the Union nor prolong the con- 
test till it sank from exhaustion — cannot roll back the 
current of time, not unwrite the page of history. Presi- 
dent Johnson will go down to posterity identified with 
that mighty effort which saved the life of the nation, and 
infused into its Constitution renewed vigor, health, and 
strength. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill — Its Features — The Record of the Presi- 
dent forgotten by those who take Issue with him — To many great Issues 
he has been committed in Principle as a Statesman — Have the Republicans 
the Right to add now to the Conditions on which Mr. Johnson was nom- 
inated? — Regrets at the Differences produced — All his Sympathies and 
Feelings are with the original Union Men who resisted the Attempts to 
sever the Union — This Strife should not be Perpetuated — Conclusion. 

Ifarcli 28, 1866. 

The telegraphic wires have flashed the news through- 
out the country that President Johnson has returned to 
the Senate, where it originated, with his objections, another 
important measure known by the designation of " the Civil 
Rights Bill." As it is not the purpose of the author to dis- 
cuss mere party politics, he does not propose to examine 
this question itself, or the President's veto of the same, 
with reference to any partisan combinations or influences 
growing out of it. The President's vindication is to be 
found in reading the veto message. This document, like 
the previous veto, is written in admirable taste and tem- 
per ; its calm, argumentative, and respectful tone, must be 
admired by Mr. Johnson's worst enemies. He places the 
issue on the high ground of a mere difference in judgment 
and opinion between him and the majority who voted for 
the measure. Those who have thus taken issue with him, 
or rather who have forced the issue of these vetoes on him, 
seem to have forgotten that Mr. Johnson had a reoord of 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 355 

his previous political life of twenty years, as embodied in 
the proceedings of Congress, and the many State papers 
and public documents issued by him in the important 
positions he had filled. In regard to many of the great 
issues before the country, he was committed in principle, 
not as a mere politician, but as a statesman. When he 
was nominated for Yice-President, his views were known 
and understood in reference to many points embraced in 
the " Freedrnen's Bureau Bill " and " the Civil Eights Bill," 
both of which he has vetoed. Those who had nominated 
him, and with whose political organization the events of 
the time connected him, had a right to count on his acqui- 
escence, to the extent to which, under the emergencies of 
the occasion, he had pledged or committed himself. To 
that extent he is still anxious and willing to unite with 
them, and is acting with them in perfect good faith. That 
was the preservation of the Union, when the Union was in 
danger. Eow that the danger is removed, the restoration 
of the Union to its original status, as near as may be, mak- 
ing allowance for adaptation to circumstances, is the point 
of junction between Mr. Johnson and the Republican 
party. But have the latter the right now to add to the 
conditions on which Mr. Johnson was nominated \ They 
should recollect that on many occasions, in his recorded 
speeches, he has taken the strongest and most uncompro- 
mising grounds against centralization of power in the 
Federal Government. He is as strongly committed as he 
can be in favor of leaving to the State Governments the 
management and control of their domestic municipal 
regulations. This with him is a principle. How> then, 
can the Republicans ask of Mr. Johnson to repudiate and 
disregard the professions of his past life — to turn his back 
on principles enunciated by him in the most solemn 
manner % 



356 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

It would be much better for the North, for the South, 
and for the whole country, to see perfect union and 
accord between the Executive and Legislative branches 
of the country, in the great work of restoring the 
Union. It is deeply to be regretted that this discord 
should prevail, and exactions should be required of 
Mr. Johnson so much at variance with the recorded opin- 
ions of his past life. Mr. Johnson is acting strictly on 
the defensive. It is to be hoped that the schism applies to 
but a fraction of the Republicans. He has a right to con- 
sistently appeal to the great body of the Republican party 
to sustain him upon the grounds of their original alliance. 
He has been true and unwavering on every point on which 
he and the Republicans were brought to act in concert. 
All his sympathies and feelings are with the original Union 
men, who resisted the attempts to sever the Union. It is 
true that, after having subdued them, and brought them to 
a confession of their error, he is in favor of staying the 
arm of persecution. The generosity of his nature here 
interposes, and he is disposed to be magnanimous to a 
crushed and stricken foe, who show a willingness to sub- 
mit at discretion. But he has given no evidence of a dis- 
position to withdraw his confidence from the Republicans, 
as such. He has evinced no purpose to bestow his patron- 
age and trust the direction of his administrative policy to 
those who were untrue to the Union in its day of peril. 
If ever there was a man who has " proven his faith by his 
works," that man is Andrew Johnson. His sacrifices and 
sufferings in behalf of the Union, the dangers he en- 
countered from those who were plotting its overthrow, 
must be judged of from a standard that scarcely any 
Northern man (secure from the privations, dangers, and 
difficulties he had to encounter) can present for the con- 
sideration of calm, sedate, and reflecting men. The his- 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 357 

tory of his life is a standing and eloquent appeal to the 
reason, the reflection, the generous forbearance of the 
Bepublicans. This appeal will certainly, ere long, find a 
kind and just response in their bosoms. 

Those who may suppose that President Johnson is in- 
clined to flout or defy those with whom he so long 
and so zealously labored for the preservation of the 
Union — those who suppose he derives any pleasure from 
the unfortunate disagreement with a portion of those whom 
a common peril to the Government brought together — are 
seriously in error. Time will prove to them that they are 
mistaken, that they do Mr. Johnson injustice. Of course, 
it is impossible to prove what is going on in any one's 
mind ; but, if those who suspect his motives could see and 
know what he has to encounter ; if they could understand 
his mental struggles in deciding between his convictions 
of duty and his earnest desire to preserve the associations 
of a common effort in behalf of the Union ; if they could 
thoroughly appreciate his pure and unselfish patriotism in 
trying to preserve only one party (that of the country) un- 
til the present troubles shall have passed over; if they 
could know, as is the ease, and as time will prove, that he is 
not actuated with any purpose to split the true national 
Union party, and build up a party devoted to himself, with 
reference to any combinations in the future ; if they could 
see, and understand, and appreciate these facts, as less 
than three short years mil prove to be the case — those wh o 
now do him such great injustice in impugning his motives, 
would rush in haste to him, readily confess their errors of 
judgment, and with ardor and zeal proffer their renewed 
alliance in saving the Government and the Union against 
the danger of all mere party complications. The author 
has no wish to see this strife perpetuated. No friend of 
Andrew Johnson's, no friend of his country, can derive any 



358 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

pleasure from witnessing this disagreement between the 
Executive and Legislative departments of the Govern- 
ment. The associations out of which the union between 
Mr. Johnson and the Republicans grew, involve feelings 
and sacrifices of too important and historic a character to 
become the mere playthings of party or of faction. May 
not the appeal be made, as it is here made (is it too late?), 
to the Republicans, not to endeavor to force Mr. Johnson 
to gainsay and ignore the events of the past ; not to 
force him to stultify himself by repudiating the long-cher- 
ished principles of his life ? As to all his pledges in favor 
of preserving, restoring, and perpetuating the Union of the 
States, he is ready, willing, and anxious to comply with 
them both in letter and spirit. There is a striking analogy 
between the history of the French revolutionary convention 
and the developments of our own civil strife. Andrew 
Johnson and those who concurred with him, occupied a po- 
sition in the United States Senate, in 1861-'62, very much 
like that occupied by Yerginaud, Barbaroux, Brissot, and 
others, in the Convention in France. Andrew Johnson 
and those in his position never did belong to the party of 
" the Mountain." Even in 1862 (as heretofore noticed), 
more than a year after the war had been in progress, Mr. 
Johnson introduced resolutions in the Senate declaring 
that the war was being waged for the preservation of the 
Union, and that when that purpose was accomplished, the 
war shonld cease. Here, then, was the clearest and most 
unmistakable exposition of his views. His sagacity foresaw, 
and his purpose was to anticipate, the very evils that have 
since presented themselves. If he was honest, sincere, and 
patriotic then — and no one seems to have doubted it — if 
he dreaded and thought he foresaw that the violence en- 
gendered by the strife might possibly lead to a revolution 
in the framework and structure of the Government, after 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 359 

the Union Lad been preserved by arms, calculated to sap 
the very foundations of liberty ; and if he sees or thinks 
he sees, in the consummation of those measures pressed by 
" the Mountain " section of the Republicans, results tend- 
ing to the subversion of our Government and its liberties, 
is he not consistent, is he not patriotic, is he not to be com- 
mended rather thau blamed, in again risking himself for 
the salvation of his country ? It is not in anger, but in 
sorrow, that he again bares his breast to the storm. He 
confided and trusted in the people to save the free institu- 
tions of their fathers, when threatened with a terrible civil 
war ; he confides and trusts in the same people now, to 
save the same institutions against the impulses of temper, 
of passion and resentment. "Will the same people, whom 
his counsels and warnings led along the path of safety, 
and to the goal of success, fail to heed him now ? To save 
his country, he abandoned the party affiliations of his 
past life, then — shall he be suspected and denounced for 
being forced, under the duress of duty, for a partial sever- 
ance from those with whom circumstances impelled him to 
unite politically in 1860-'61 ? This may be his misfor- 
tune; it surely is not his fault. He has preserved his 
consistency ; he is simply acting out what he foreshadowed 
years ago. 

It may, perhaps, be said that the analogy of the French 
Convention is an unfortunate one for Mr. Johnson ; that 
as the Girondists were overthrown by the Jacobins, so the 
Republicans " of the Mountain " will crush out the " Giron- 
dist " Republicans now. But the analogy does not hold good 
in one particular. History, with scarcely a dissenting voice, 
proclaims that the Girondists, with all their virtue, and pa- 
triotism, and talents, fell, through a want of moral courage. 
By temporizing and yielding to the extreme measures of 
the Jacobins, they lost their prestige for conservatism. 



360 LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Moral courage is the great stand -point of Andrew John- 
son's character. His combativeness, though defensive 
in its nature, is of the most firm and unyielding char- 
acter. But follow out the analogy. Moderation and 
conservatism finally triumphed in France. With the 
fall of Robespierre, " the Mountain " fell in France, to rise 
no more. Then it was the people of France waked up to 
the conviction that ah insignificant minority, claiming to 
speak the voice of the nation, had, by a factitious public 
opinion, ruled through terror, and in the name of liberty 
had been preying upon liberty itself. 

The author hopes that he is not misunderstood. His 
purpose is to present the question analogically. In speak- 
ing of the " Jacobins," the party of " the Mountain," etc., 
his object is not to apply these terms to the Republicans, 
as such. His object is not to apply these terms to the 
great majority of that party in Congress who have differed 
with Mr. Johnson on his late vetoes. The author has no 
wish or intention to indulge in epithets, in denunciation, 
or in the suspicion of motives. He views the action of the 
majority as resulting from those influences of party affilia- 
tion, which frequently bias the minds of honest and con- 
servative men, without their being aware of it. The au- 
thor hopes that time and reflection, and the developments 
of the future, will bring the conservative portion of the 
majority in Congress to the conviction that they have mis- 
understood Mr. Johnson ; that they have misconceived his 
purposes and misjudged his motives, and that before a great 
while harmony may be restored between them ; and that 
the great body of the Republicans will be found rallying 
around him in his efforts to restore peace, concord, and 
prosperity to a divided and distracted country. 



CONCLUSION. 

The reader will readily perceive the difficulty of pre- 
serving systematic arrangement, and of avoiding repetition, 
to some extent, in a work of this sort. The object of the 
author being to bring down the review of Mr. Johnson's 
political history to the very latest period, before going to 
press, he has been necessarily compelled to allude again 
and again to the same topics, as the questions treated of 
have assumed different phases from time to time. Instead 
of rewriting what has been said on any one subject, when- 
ever any new developments on that subject have taken 
place, the author has concluded to let his previous com- 
ments stand, and add others as new facts and incidents 
were brought to pass. This work was commenced some 
seven or eight months before publication. In the first por- 
tion of it, many subjects are discussed which excited great 
interest at the time, but which no longer engross public 
attention. Events succeed each other so rapidly, and the 
public excitement shifts so quickly from one subject to 
another, that no dissertation could be written on the politi- 
cal condition of affairs, or on the life and character of any 
man who fills an important role in the events of the day, 
without its involving this very repetition, and want of sys- 
tematic arrangement alluded to by the author in his preface. 
16 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

To remedy this defect, such a work would have to be written 
one day and printed on the next. The writer of this 
memoir having no ambition of authorship to consult, has 
preferred to rely on the indulgence of the reader, in pre- 
senting his views in a plain, unadorned, and unsystematic 
method, rather than attempt any of the appliances of 
regular book-making. 

The author has chosen to withhold his name from the 
public. His object was not to gratify any pride of author- 
ship, nor was it to subserve any personal aim. If by con- 
cealing his name he has chosen to forego any personal 
advantage that might have otherwise accrued to him, he 
has also secured himself personally against the shafts of 
unfriendly criticism. He has nothing to retract or apolo- 
gize for, as to the garb of " hero-worship " in which he has 
clothed his humble work. Macaulay and Carlyle have 
given the world examples in that respect, which place no 
limit to the terms of praise in which the biographer may 
speak of his hero, provided they are honestly entertained 
and truthfully expressed. The author frankly admits that 
he regards Andrew Johnson as a man of destiny, that he 
has a mission to accomplish, that he is the chosen instru- 
ment in the hands of a Higher Power, to carry out its in- 
scrutable plans. When Divine Wisdom uses human agency 
as the means of accomplishing its purposes, it selects great 
men to effect great results. The gigantic war which 
scourged this country for four long years, with all its won- 
derful incidents and momentous results, was too big an 
affair to have happened by chance. It had to he. Not- 
withstanding the severe ordeal through which the country 
is now passing, yet the author has strong faith that the 
Government will be maintained, the Union reestablished, 
and free institutions preserved. Time only can prove 
whether the author's faith is well founded, that Andrew 



LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 363 

Johnson is the destined agent through whom these great 
ends are to be subserved. The history of his past life is 
confirmed by the passing events from day to day that he 
will not fail. His success will be the triumph of his 
country. 



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Sermons Preached at the Church 

of St. Paul the Apostle, New York, during the year 186L Sec- 
ond Edition. 18mo. 406 pp. Cloth. 

" They are all stirring and vigorous, and possess more than usual merit."— 
Methodist Protestant. 

" These sermons are short and practical, and admirably calculated to im- 
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The Trial. More Links of the 

Daisy Chain. By the Author of " The Heir of Redclyffe." Two 
volumes in one. Large 12mo. 390 pp. Cloth. 

" The plot is well developed ; the characters are finely sketched ; it is a capi- 
tal novel." — Providence Journal. 

"It is the best novel we have seen for many months." — Montreal Gazette. 

" It is marked by all the fascinating qualities of the works that preceded it. 
* * * Equal to any of her former novels." — Commercial. 



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Chateau Frissac ; or Home Scenes 

in France. By Olive Logan, Authoress of "Photographs of 
Paris Life," etc., etc. Large 12mo. Cloth. 

" The vivacity and ease of her style are rarely attained in works of this kind, 
and its scenes and incidents are skilfully wrought."— Chicago Journal. 
" The story is lively and entertaining." — Springfield Republican. 

The Management of Steel, in- 
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and Expansion, also the Case-Hardening of Iron. By George 
Ede, employed at the Royal Gun Factories' Department, "Wool- 
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12mo. Cloth. 

"This work must be valuable to machinists and workers of Iron and Steel." 
— Portland Courier. 

" An instructive essay ; it imparts a great deal of valuable information con- 
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The Clever Woman of the Fam- 
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" The Young Stepmother," etc., etc. With twelve illustra- 
tions. 8vo. 

" A charming story ; fresh, vigorous, and lifelike as the works of this author 
always are. We are inclined to think that most readers will agree with us in 
pronouncing it the best which the author has yet produced. ' —Portland 
Press. 

" A new story by this popular writer is always welcome. The ) Clever •Wo- 
man of the Family,' is one of her best; bright, sharp, and piquant."-2far#brd 
Courant. 

" One of the cleverest, most genial novels of the times. It is written with 
great force and fervor. The characters are sketched with great siou. — noy 
Times. 



Too Strange Not to be True. 

A Tale. By Lady Georgiana Fuxlerton, Authoress of " Ellen 
Middleton," " Ladybird," etc. Three volumes in one. With 
Illustrations. 8vo. 
"This work, which is by far the best of the fair and gifted Author ess, is the 
most interesting book of fiction that has appeared for years. "—Cairo News. 

" It is a strange, exciting, and extremely interesting tale, well and beauti- 
fully written. It is likely to become one of the most popular novels of the 
present day." — Indianapolis Gazette. 
I " A story in which truth and fiction are skilfully blended. It has quite an 
' air of truth, and lovers of the marvellous will find in it much that is interesting. 
— Boston Recorder. 



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What I Saw on the West Coast 

of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands. B7 
' H. Willis Baxley, M.D. With numerous Illustrations. 8vo 
632 pp. Cloth. 

" With great power of observation, much information, a rapid and graphic 
style, the author presents a vivid and instructive picture. He is free in his 
strictures, sweeping in his judgments, but his facts are unquestionable, and his 
motives and his standard of judgment just."— Albany Argus. 

" His work will be found to contain a greal deal of valuable information, 
many suggestive reflections, and much graphic and interesting descriptions." — 
Portland Express. 

The Conversion of the Roman 

Empire. The Boyle Lectures for the year 1864. Delivered at 
the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, by Charles Merivale, B.D., 
Rector of Lawford, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of 
Commons, author of " A History of the Romans under the Em- 



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he has done it with marked ability. He has done it, moreover, in the interest of 
Christian truth, and manifests thorough appreciation of the spiritual nature and 
elements of Christianity." — Evangelist. 

" The author is admirably qualified from his historical studies to connect the- 
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Transcript. 

Christian Ballads. By the Right 

Rev. A. Cleveland Coxe, D.D., Bishop of Western New York. 
Illustrated by John A. Hows. 1 vol., 8vo. 14 full page en- 
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" These ballads have gained for the author an enviable distinction ; this work 
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" Not alone do they breathe a beautiful religious and Christianlike spirit, 
there is much real and true poetry in them." — Home Journal. 

Mount Vernon, and other Poems. 

By Harvey Rice. 12mo. 

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The Internal Revenue Laws. 

Act approved June 30, 1864, as amended, and the Act amenda- 
tory thereof approved March 3, 1865. "With copious marginal 
references, a complete Analytical Index, and Tables of Taxa- 
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" An indispensable book for every citizen." 

"An accurate and certainly a very complete and convenient manual." — Con- 
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Speeches and Occasional Ad- 

dresses. ByJoHNADix. 2 vols., 8vo. With portrait. Cloth. 

"This collection is designed chiefly to make those who are to come after us 
acquainted with the part I have borne in the national movement during a quar- 
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" General Dix has done a good service to American statesmanship and liter- 
ature by publishing in a collected form the fruits of his ripe experience and 
manly sagacity." — New York Tribune. 

The Classification of the Sciences. 

To which are added Reasons for Dissenting from the Philosophy 
of M. Comte. By Herbert Spencer, Author of "Illustra- 
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" Essays : Moral, Political, and ^Esthetic," and the " Principles 
of Psychology." 12mo. 

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(Mean Lamar, and Other Poems, 

by Sarah E. Knowles. 12mo. Cloth. 

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Lyrical Recreations. 

By SAMUEL WARD. Large 12mo. Cloth. 

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the book." — Journal of Commerce. 

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6 D. APPLETON k CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 

Lyra Anglicana ; or, A Hymnal 

of Sacred Poetry. Selected from the best English writers, and 
arranged after the order of the Apostles' Creed. By the Rev. 
George T. Eider, M.A. 



" As beautiful and valuable a collection of Sacred Poetry as has ever ap- 
peared." — 8L Louis Press. 

" Will be found very attractive from the warm devotional tone that pervades 
IV'—New York Times. 

" Much of the poetry is not found in American reprints." — Gospel Messen- 
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Lyra Americana ; or, Verses of 

Praise and Faith, from American Poets. Selected and arranged 
by the Rev. George T. Rider, M.A. 12mo. 



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devotion." — Th 

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, [need la the selection of the poetry." — Troy 

Tii/h.s. 

On Radiation. The " Rede " Lee- 

ture, delivered in the Senate Ilouse before the University of Cam- 
bridge, on Tuesday, May Hi, 1865, by John Tyspall, F.R.S., 
Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Royal Institute and in 
the Royal School of Mines. Author of " Heat considered as a 
Mode of Motion." 12mo. Cloth. 

Contributions to the Geology 

and the Physical Geography of Mexico, including a Geological 
and Topographical Map, with profiles of some of the princi- 
pal mining districts. Together with a graphic description of 
an ascent of the volcano Popocatepetl. Edited by Baron F. 
W. Yon Egloffstein. Large 8vo. Illustrated. Cloth. 



" The general interest excited on this continent as well as in Europe by late 
political events in Mexico, where a wide field for mining and land speculation 
is about to be opened again to foreign industry and foreign capital, has induced 
me to submit to the public two interesting publications of this highly favored 
region."— Extract from Introduction. 




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